Computational fluid dynamics simulation and statistical procedure for estimating wide-area distributions of airborne sea salt considering local ground conditions

Steel corrosion under atmospheric conditions is a critical issue in the maintenance of structures such as electric transmission towers and bridges during their long-term operation, which are generally located at many places over a wide area. Since a major factor causing corrosion is airborne salt particles coming from the sea, wide-area distributions of the long-term cumulative amount of sea salt deposited on surfaces are needed. Moreover, since the amount of airborne sea salt varies locally with the topography, it is also important to consider the effects of topography. In this paper, a method combining a computational fluid dynamics model and a statistical procedure is proposed to efficiently estimate wide-area distributions of the cumulative amount of airborne sea salt by considering the local topography. The predicted amount of airborne sea salt decreases with increasing distance from the coast and varies with the topography and the offshore wind. A comparison between predicted and observed amounts revealed that: (1) this method appropriately estimates topographical effects on sea-salt transport and enables the estimation of deposited sea salt on structure surfaces, and (2) consideration of the trapping efficiency of sea-salt particles on structure surfaces improves the prediction accuracy.     

Oxygen potential measurements of Am0.5Pu0.5O2−x by EMF method

The dependence of the oxygen potentials on oxygen non-stoichiometry and temperature of Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x has been obtained by the electromotive force (EMF) method with the cell: (Pt) air |Zr(Ca)O_2−x| Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x (Pt). The x value of Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x was changed at 1333 K over 0.02 < x ? 0.25 by the coulomb titration method. The temperature dependence of the oxygen potential was also measured over the range of 1173-1333 K. It was found that the oxygen potential decreased from −80 to −360 kJ mol⁻¹ with increasing x from 0.021 to 0.22 at 1333 K and that it remained almost constant at −360 kJmol⁻¹ around x = 0.23. It was concluded that Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x should be composed of the single fluorite-type phase over 0.02 < x ? 0.22 and the mixed phases of fluorite-type and (Am, Pu)₉O₁₆ at around x = 0.23.     

The flow rate of test odor spouting into the mask in the dynamic odor test

The adoption of the sensory odor test will prevail widely in many local self governments in Japan in order to evaluate and regulate the complex odor in fields. This is also done by the tri‐angle choice bag test. However, this procedure has several problems in the reliability and reproducibility of the results obtained. It is desired to solve these problems by the mechanization of the method. From this point of view, an experimental study on the flow rate of test odor has been carried out and the results obtained are described in this paper. It is confirmed that the optimum flow rate of test odor is about 41/min at the inlet of the mask in the dynamic sniffing method.     

Addition polymerization of norbornene, 5-vinyl-2-norbornene and 2-methoxycarbonyl-5-norbornene with a catalyst based on a palladium(0) precursor complex

Pd(dibenzylideneacetone)₂, when activated in situ with 1 equiv of [CPh₃][B(C₆F₅)₄] in the presence of 1 equiv of P(C₆H₁₁)₃, efficiently catalyzed the addition polymerization and copolymerization of norbornene and its derivatives. Homopolymerization of 5-vinyl-2-norbornene took place regio-selectively with the endo-cyclic double bond to give high-molecular weight polymers, while the exocyclic double bond remained intact so that the resulting polymer had pendent vinyl groups along the polymer chain. In the polymerization of a mixture of the endo-/exo- isomers of 2-methoxycarbonyl-5-norbornene, the endo-isomer was consumed prior to consumption of the exo-isomer, contrary to the well-known tendency in Pd(II)-based catalyst systems. Another notable feature of the present catalytic system was the strong dependency of the molecular weight on the reaction temperature, which was studied in detail for the copolymerization of 2-methoxycarbonyl-5-norbornene with norbornene: we could control the molecular weight without the use of a chain transfer agent. The extracted oligomeric fraction of poly(norbornene) showed the presence of a terminal CC double bond as well as a C₆F₅ unit that was bound to the first norbornane unit in the polymer chain.     

Mesophase structure discovered through in-situ X-ray measurement in drawing process of poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) fiber

The structure development in the continuous laser-heated drawing process of poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN) fiber was analyzed by in-situ X-ray diffraction measurement. Because of the rapid and uniform laser heating, and the resultant steady-state nature of the necking-drawing, the structure development after the on-set of necking could be measured in the time resolution of several hundred microseconds. We found for the first time the temporal appearance of meridional (001′) diffraction at several milliseconds after the on-set of necking indicating that the mesophase structure similar to the one reported for poly(ethylene terephthalate) was also formed in the initial stage of fiber structure development of PEN. The d-spacing of the (001′) diffraction 1.230 ± 0.003 nm was shorter than the c-axis lengths of both α and β crystals.     

High-Performance Induction Motor Drive System Using a PWM Inverter

A high-performance speed control system for cage induction motors is described which utilizes a PWM inverter. The effects of primary current coincidence and machine constant variation on system characteristics such as response time, torque precision, and operating noise were investigated. Based on the results obtained, new control methods have been devised; one varies the gain of the current controller in proportion to the primary frequency, and a second compensates for the slip frequency by using the deviation between the flux reference value and the actual value. Effectiveness of the compensation methods was confirmed in tests.     

X-ray absorption fine structure combined with fluorescence spectrometry for monitoring trace amounts of lead adsorption in the environmental conditions

The local structure of trace amounts of lead in an adsorbent matrix that contains a high concentration of iron and magnesium (Mg6Fe2(OH)16(CO3) x 3H2O) was successfully monitored by means of X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy combined with fluorescence spectrometry. A eutectic mixture of PbCO3 and Pb(OH)2 coagulated when Pb2+ was adsorbed from a 1.0 ppm aqueous solution, and in contrast, the major species was ion-exchanged Pb2+ in the case of adsorption from a 100 ppb aqueous solution. The difference was ascribed to the balance between the precipitation equilibrium for coagulation and the rate of the ion exchange reaction with surface hydroxyl groups.     

Coupling-loss reduction of a vertically coupled microring resonator filter by spot-size-matched busline waveguides

To improve the input-output coupling loss of a vertically coupled microring resonator filter, we fabricated microring resonators on an antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) with a large spot size and on the rectangular busline waveguide with a spot-size transformer. The spot size and the tapered structure were optimally designed from the viewpoint of spot-size matching to single-mode fibers and the reduction of radiation loss. Clear dropping responses were demonstrated for the ARROW-based microring resonator filters, and the coupling loss was successfully reduced by 22 dB.