Low Temperature Physics at the Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Pulsés in Toulouse

An overview over past and present activities and future developments at the Toulouse pulsed magnetic field facility is given, both as far as technical developments of the infrastructure, as well as low temperature physics performed at the LNCMP are concerned.     

Large deflection dynamics and control for planar continuum robots

This paper focuses on a class of robot manipulators termed "continuum" robots - robots that exhibit behavior similar to tentacles, trunks, and snakes. In previous work, we studied details of the mechanical design, kinematics, path-planning and small-deflection dynamics for continuum robots such as the Clemson "tentacle manipulator". In this paper, we discuss the dynamics of a planar continuum backbone section, incorporating a large-deflection dynamic model. Based on these dynamics, we formulate a vibration-damping setpoint controller, and include experimental results to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed controller.     

Modification of ASM3 for the determination of biomass adsorption/storage capacity in bulking sludge control.

The selector activated sludge (SAS) systems are known to prevent excessive growth of filamentous microorganisms responsible for bulking sludge, but these systems were hardly ever modelled. This study aimed to develop a model capable of predicting rapid substrate removal in the SAS systems. For this purpose, the Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) was extended with three processes (adsorption, direct growth on the adsorbed substrate under aerobic or anoxic conditions). The modified ASM3 was tested against the results of batch experiments with the biomass originating from two full-scale SAS systems in Germany. The endogenous biomass was mixed with various readily biodegradable substrates (acetate, peptone, glucose and wastewater) and the utilisation of substrate (expresses as COD) and oxygen uptake rates (OURs) were measured during the experiments. In general, model predictions fitted to the experimental data, but a considerable number of kinetic (5) and stoichiometric (2) parameters needed to be adjusted during model calibration. The simulation results revealed that storage was generally a dominating process compared to direct growth in terms of the adsorbed substrate utilisation. The contribution of storage ranged from 65-71% (Plant A) and 69-92% (Plant B).     

Non-equilibrium particle motion in the vicinity of a single blade

The motion of sand particles close to a single moving blade was investigated using Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) during the period in which the free bed surface profile was evolving to an equilibrium shape. The area affected by the blade was divided into active and inactive regions and these were analysed separately. The characteristic heart-shape of the active region in the plan view was determined. An approximately 10-particle-diameter wide velocity transition zone is found between the two regions. While the tracer particle is in the inactive region moving away from the blade, the time dependence of the axial displacement is well described by a logarithmic relationship. The probability of particle movement towards the centre of the blade was quantified using a “central tendency” index. The calculated central tendency shows maxima at each side of the blade. The separation of the two maxima, which indicates the width of the active region, increases with fill level but is independent of rotational speed.     

Contact stresses in an infinite plate containing a smooth circular insert under thermal load

Summary. A solution is presented for the contact problem with a smooth circular elastic insert in an infinite, linearly elastic plate under thermal load. The thermal load considered here includes the temperature gradient applied at infinity and a uniform temperature change. One of the major difficult parts in solving the present problem is that separation may occur between an insert or inclusion and the surrounding matrix under a nonuniform expansion of the matrix and the insert due to a temperature change. Based on the complex potential theory and the method of analytical continuation, the problem is reduced to a singular integro-differential equation which is solved numerically. Results are presented for the contact angle and for the normal and circumferential stresses at the plate-insert interface. Exact solutions are found for the current problem for a special case when the material properties of the plate and the insert are identical.     

An investigation into the effect of various chemical and physical treatments of a South African phosphogypsum to render it suitable as a set retarder for cement

The work describes various physical and chemical treatments to eliminate the deleterious effects of impurities in phosphogypsum on the delayed setting time and impaired strength development behaviour of cement to which it was added as a set regulator. The physical treatments included washing, milling, and ultrasonic treatment of the material, while the chemical treatments dealt with acidic and basic additions to the phosphogypsum during the washing stage. It was found that chemical treatment with a milk of lime solution, which is often recommended in literature, was ineffective in reducing set retardation. Treatment with ammonium hydroxide or sulphuric acid was more effective in this regard. Intergrinding phosphogypsum with slaked lime improved its effectiveness in reducing set retardation, but the use of unslaked lime was less effective and also resulted in marked reductions in compressive strengths. A combined treatment of wet milling phosphogypsum with a lime slurry in a ball mall was derived from these experiments and is recommended for full-scale plant applications.