Fracture resistance via topology optimization

The fracture resistance of structures is optimized using the level-set method. Fracture resistance is assumed to be related to the elastic energy released by a crack propagating in a normal direction from parts of the boundary that are in tension, and is calculated using the virtual crack extension technique. The shape derivative of the fracture-resistance objective function is derived. Two illustrative two-dimensional case studies are presented: a hole in a plate subjected to biaxial strain; and a bridge fixed at both ends subjected to a single load in which the compliance and fracture resistance are jointly optimized. The structures obtained have rounded corners and more material at places where they are in tension. Based on the results, we propose that fracture resistance may be modeled more easily but less directly by including a term proportional to surface area in the objective function, in conjunction with nonlinear elasticity where the Young’s modulus in tension is lower than in compression.     

Evaluation of thermal conductivity from temperature profiles

A new dynamic technique for the measurement of thermal conductivity is being developed at IMGC. The experiment consists in bringing the specimen to high temperatures with a current pulse and in measuring the temperature profiles during the free cooling period. Different techniques can be used to extract the information on thermal conductivity from the profiles. The numerical computation of thermal conductivity from the experimental temperature profiles in absolute space is possible, but it is difficult and cumbersome because one must know and take into the account the exact position of the infinitesimal elements of the specimen in different profiles. Computations in tube-space (a fictitious space where no thermal expansion occurs) are simpler and lead to less complex numerical computations. Complementary techniques to evaluate thermal conductivity as a function of temperature or at constant temperature are presented with a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of each method. Computer simulations have tested the precision of the complex software. Numerically generated temperature profiles from known thermophysical properties have been obtained and thermal conductivity has been recomputed from the profiles. The relative difference using different computational approaches and different fitting functions is always less than 0.1%.Paper presented at the Third Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, September 17–18, 1992, Graz, Austria.     

Diagnosis and treatment of aortic valve stenosis

The present review has attempted to summarize the classic symptoms and signs of aortic valve stenosis, especially in an adult. It is emphasized that all the classic signs rarely are present and their absence may mislead an unwary clinician. The diagnostic help provided by noninvasive tests, including echocardiography and phonocardiography, has been emphasized. A need for cardiac catheterization and angiography in most patients prior to corrective surgery is stressed. The natural history of the disease without operative intervention is dim and a significant risk of sudden death exists. The current surgical approach with immediate and long-term results is summarized. Finally, attention has been drawn to the special clinical circumstances when the aortic valve stenosis provides a strinkingly different clinical picture. We cannot find a better way to end this review than by quoting a warning note given by Thomas Lewis in 1920: "It is the faint cry of an anguished and fast failing muscle, which, when it comes, all should strain to hear, for it is not long repeated. A few months, a few years at most, and the end comes."     

Removal of mercaptans from a gas stream using continuous adsorption-regeneration

The removal of the mercaptan, 1-methyl-1-propanethiol, from aqueous solutions using a non-porous, electrically conducting carbon-based adsorbent (Nyex 1000) was investigated. The adsorption process was found to be rapid (equilibrium capacity achieved within 5 minutes) with low adsorptive capacity (of the order of 0.4 mg g(-1)) when compared with activated carbon. Electrochemical regeneration of the Nyex 1000 in a simple divided electrochemical cell within a sequential batch treatment unit restored 100% of the adsorbent's adsorptive capacity using treatment times as low as 20 minutes by passing a current of 0.5 A. The sorptive characteristics of a Nyex-water slurry were also modelled and investigated both in a bubble column and in a continuous adsorption-regeneration treatment system. It was demonstrated that the continuous removal-destruction system could achieve a step reduction in challenge gas concentration of approximately 75% for a period of 35 minutes with a current of 5 Amps. This was attributed to mass transfer enhanced by a combination of adsorption and chemical reaction with free chlorine species generated in the electrochemical process.     

Catalytic properties of SrSn1−xSbxO3 in methanol oxidation

Ceramic model catalyst materials of general formula SrSn_1–x Sb _x O₃ are synthesised by solid state reaction. X-ray diffraction shows the materials to be single phase over the composition range 0 x0.085, with a second phase, identified as SrSb₂O₅, being produced at higher antimony doping levels. XPS, Auger electron spectroscopy and valence band photoemission show strong segregation of Sb to the surface of the material even within the single phase regime. The catalytic properties of the materials are examined using methanol oxidation as a test reaction. The activity and selectivity to formaldehyde production shown by these materials is found to be strongly correlated with the attainment of the bulk solubility limit of Sb in the SrSnO₃ perovskite host.     

The diffusion of antimony in alpha iron

Diffusion coefficients of antimony in α-iron were determined in the temperature range 700 to 900°C using the residual activity method. Specimens were large-grained polycrystals for the higher temperature measurements and single crystals for the low temperature measurements. Above 800°C the data may be represented by the equationD _sb(cm²/s) = (440 ± 200) exp [- (270,000 ± 7000)/RT]. The activation energy (reported in J/mole) is approximately equal to that measured for iron self-diffusion in this same temperature range, although the antimony diffusion coefficients are a factor of ten larger than the iron self diffusion coefficients. The potential for strongly coupled vacancy-antimony motions is demonstrated, based on the observed enhancement of iron self diffusion in dilute iron-antimony alloys. Finally molybdenum is shown to have a negligible effect on the diffusion of antimony in α-iron. These results are discussed in relation to the phenomenon of temper brittleness in steels. Embrittlement kinetics in iron-antimony alloys are shown to be consistent with an antimony diffusion controlled segregation mechanism.     

Two-handed volumetric document corpus management

To find a document in the sea of information, you must embark on a search process, usually computer-aided. In the traditional information retrieval model, the final goal is to identify and collect a small number of documents to read in detail. In this case, a single query yielding a scalar indication of relevance usually suffices. In contrast, document corpus management seeks to understand what is happening in the collection of documents as a whole (i.e. to find relationships among documents). You may indeed read or skim individual documents, but only to better understand the rest of the document set. Document corpus management seeks to identify trends, discover common links and find clusters of similar documents. The results of many single queries must be combined in various ways so that you can discover trends. We describe a new system called the Stereoscopic Field Analyzer (SFA) that aids in document corpus management by employing 3D volumetric visualization techniques in a minimally immersive real-time interaction style. This interactive information visualization system combines two-handed interaction and stereoscopic viewing with glyph-based rendering of the corpora contents. SFA has a dynamic hypertext environment for text corpora, called Telltale, that provides text indexing, management and retrieval based on n-grams (n character sequences of text). Telltale is a document management and information retrieval engine which provides document similarity measures (n-gram-based m-dimensional vector inner products) visualized by SFA for analyzing patterns and trends within the corpus     

Marine Wastewater Discharges from Multiport Diffusers. II: Unstratified Flowing Water

Laboratory experiments on the near-field mixing of buoyant plumes discharged from multiport diffusers into unstratified flowing water are reported. The spatial variation of dilution was measured by a newly developed three-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence system and a microconductivity probe. The near-field hydrodynamics are complex. The plumes discharged upstream dilute and merge more rapidly than those discharged downstream. Even with wide port spacing, the plumes eventually merge to form a laterally uniform surface wastefield. The density profile in this wastefield becomes gravitationally stable and suppresses mixing, marking the end of the near field. The value of the port spacing ratio, s/H, below which the discharge approximates a line plume is greater for discharge into a flowing current than into a stationary environment, so the port spacing plays a lesser role in a flowing current. The mixing and dilution that occurs in the surface layer is less than for a discharge into a stationary environment, and it decreases as the current speed increases. Semiempirical equations to predict the major near field characteristics are presented.     

Recalling Spatial Information as a Component of Recently and Remotely Acquired Episodic or Semantic Memories: An fMRI Study.

Activations produced by the recall of episodic and semantic memories differing in spatial content and age were examined. Recall of recent episodic memories with differing spatial content activated the medial temporal lobes and the retrosplenial-posterior cingulate cortex-precuneus complex more than recall of recent semantic memories with similarly differing spatial content. Some of these differences related to the amount of spatial information recalled because spatially richer recent memories, regardless of whether they were episodic or semantic, activated the right posterior parahippocampal cortex, precuneus, and posterior parietal cortex more. This spatial effect was found to be independent of memory age for semantic memories, although some episodic-semantic memory differences, including one in the left hippocampus, were not age independent. Episodic-semantic memory recall activation differences are therefore probably a function of the amount recalled, memory age, and what is recalled, particularly with respect to spatial information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)