A Hybrid Integrated Pulsewidth Modulator

A hybrid integrated circuit is described which generates two phase-shifted 20-kHz output pulse trains whose duty cycles are related to the amplitude of an applied input signal. The circuit was designed primarily for use in power conditioning schemes utilizing pulsewidth modulated signals for regulated dc-to-dc voltage conversion. Realization of this hybrid circuit has been accomplished with a beam-lead sealed-junction monolithic silicon chip and several tantalum thin-film resistors and capacitors which are bonded/ deposited on a ceramic substrate in the form of a 28-terminal dual-in line package (DIP).     

The Strength of Liquid Bridges Between Dissimilar Materials

The strength of the liquid bridge between a sphere and a plate of dissimilar materials was studied. An equation was derived using the surface energy approach. For small amounts of liquid, the force of adhesion f was f=2πRy(cosθ₁ + cosθ₂ where R is the sphere radius, y is the surface tension, and θ₂, θ₂ the contact angles. In the derivationn, major simplications about the meniscus shape were possible.

The equation was experimentally tested with water, ethyl alcohol, aniline and iodobenzene using factorial combinations with different solids. Force of adhesion measurements were carried out using a tensile testing machine at controlled loading rates. Excellent agreement was obtained in the experimental and predicted adhesion values. The McFarlane-Tabor equation was identified as correct only for small amounts of liquids and similarly wet solids.     

PMMA‐modified divinylester/styrene resins: Phase diagrams and morphologies

Binary and ternary experimental cloud‐point curves (CPCs) for systems formulated with a low molar mass synthesized divinylester (DVE) resin, styrene (St), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were determined. The CPCs results were analyzed with the Flory–Huggins (F‐H) thermodynamic model taking into account the polydispersity of the DVE and PMMA components, to calculate the different binary interaction parameters and their temperature dependences. The St‐DVE system is miscible in all the composition range and down to the crystallization temperature of the St; therefore, the interaction parameter expression reported for a higher molar mass DVE was adapted. The interaction parameters obtained were used to calculate the phase diagrams of the St‐PMMA and the DVE‐PMMA binary systems and that of the St‐DVE‐PMMA ternary system at three different temperatures. Quasiternary phase diagrams show liquid–liquid partial miscibility of the St‐PMMA and DVE‐PMMA pairs. At room temperature, the St‐DVE‐PMMA system is miscible at all compositions. Final morphologies of PMMA‐modified cured St‐DVE materials were generated by polymerization‐induced phase separation (PIPS) mechanism from initial homogeneous mixtures. SEM and TEM micrographs were obtained to analyze the generated final morphologies, which showed a direct correlation with the initial miscibility of the system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4539–4549, 2006     

Model development and validation: Co-combustion of residual char, gases and volatile fuels in the fast fluidized combustion chamber of a dual fluidized bed biomass gasifier

A one-dimensional steady state model has been developed for the combustion reactor of a dual fluidized bed biomass steam gasification system. The combustion reactor is operated as fast fluidized bed (riser) with staged air introduction (bottom, primary and secondary air). The main fuel i.e., residual biomass char (from the gasifier), is introduced together with the circulating bed material at the bottom of the riser. The riser is divided into two zones: bottom zone (modelled according to modified two phase theory) and upper zone (modelled with core-annulus approach). The model consists of sub-model for bed hydrodynamic, conversion and conservation. Biomass char is assumed to be a homogeneous matrix of C, H and O and is modelled as partially volatile fuel. The exit gas composition and the temperature profile predicted by the model are in good agreement with the measured value.     

Validation of GOES and MODIS active fire detection products using ASTER and ETM+ data

In this study we implemented a comprehensive analysis to validate the MODIS and GOES satellite active fire detection products (MOD14 and WFABBA, respectively) and characterize their major sources of omission and commission errors which have important implications for a large community of fire data users. Our analyses were primarily based on the use of 30 m resolution ASTER and ETM+ imagery as our validation data. We found that at the 50% true positive detection probability mark, WFABBA requires four times more active fire area than is necessary for MOD14 to achieve the same probability of detection, despite the 16× factor separating the nominal spatial resolutions of the two products. Approximately 75% and 95% of all fires sampled were omitted by the MOD14 and WFABBA instantaneous products, respectively; whereas an omission error of 38% was obtained for WFABBA when considering the 30-minute interval of the GOES data. Commission errors for MOD14 and WFABBA were found to be similar and highly dependent on the vegetation conditions of the areas imaged, with the larger commission errors (approximately 35%) estimated over regions of active deforestation. Nonetheless, the vast majority (> 80%) of the commission errors were indeed associated with recent burning activity where scars could be visually confirmed in the higher resolution data. Differences in thermal dynamics of vegetated and non-vegetated areas were found to produce a reduction of approximately 50% in the commission errors estimated towards the hours of maximum fire activity (i.e., early-afternoon hours) which coincided with the MODIS/Aqua overpass. Lastly, we demonstrate the potential use of temporal metrics applied to the mid-infrared bands of MODIS and GOES data to reduce the commission errors found with the validation analyses.     

Das MPEG-21 Multimedia-Framework

Zusammenfassung  Der MPEG-21-Standard wird seit Anfang 2000 innerhalb der Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) [8] entwickelt und stellt im Wesentlichen Beschreibungsformate, in MPEG-21 als Werkzeuge bezeichnet, zum transparenten, interoperablen Austausch von digitalen Multimediainhalten zur Verfügung.     

Multi-block Poisson grid generator for cascade simulations

High quality computational grids can greatly enhance the accuracy of turbine and compressor cascade simulations especially when time-dependent results are sought where vortical structures are convected through the computational domain. A technique for generating periodic structured grids for cascade simulations based on the Poisson equations is described. To allow for more complex geometries, the grid can be divided into individual zones or blocks. The grids are generated simultaneously in all blocks, assuring continuity of the grid lines and their slopes across the zonal boundaries. Simple geometric rules can be employed for enforcing orthogonality at block boundaries. The method results in grids with low grid distortion by allowing both, block boundaries and grid points on physical boundaries, to move freely. Results are presented for a linear turbine and a linear compressor cascade.     

Finite-source M/M/S retrial queue with search for balking and impatient customers from the orbit

The present paper deals with a generalization of the homogeneous multi-server finite-source retrial queue with search for customers in the orbit. The novelty of the investigation is the introduction of balking and impatience for requests who arrive at the service facility with a limited capacity and FIFO queue. Arriving customers may balk, i.e., they either join the queue or go to the orbit. Moreover, the requests are impatient and abandon the buffer after a random time and enter the orbit, too. In case of an empty buffer, each server searches for a customer in the orbit after finishing service. All random variables involved in the model construction are supposed to be exponentially distributed and independent of each other. The primary aim of this analysis is to show the effect of balking, impatience, and buffer size on the steady-state performance measures. Concentrating on the mean response time, several numerical examples are investigated by the help of the MOSEL-2 tool used for creating the model and calculating the stationary characteristics.     

Designing an extensible architecture for Personalized Ambient Information

Ambient displays provide us with information in the background of our awareness. However, as each user has individual wishes and needs of how, which and when information is presented, the acceptance of ambient displays is low.In this paper we introduce an extensible architecture for personalized ambient information.We employ a notification system to extend the capability of a fixture to display more than one variable. Multiple variables can be updated by multiple information providers. Thereby, our architecture covers a broader spectrum of notifications from alarms to ambient information.We evaluate our concept within a dual-task experiment in comparison to preset notifications. The results show a level of self-interruption which is significantly lower than using preset notifications. Therefore our approach outperforms preset notifications and moves ambient displays closer to secondary displays in human–computer interaction.