Statistical analysis of the effect of side-grooving on the measurement of brittle fracture toughness

Fracture mechanics specimens are commonly side-grooved to promote uniformity of the crack tip stress field, but this practice may affect the fracture toughness measured because of changes in the net thickness and in the constraint. This study, based on Weibull statistics, shows that, for brittle fracture, the difference between the fracture toughness measured with plain-sided and 20 percent side-grooved specimens results essentially from the difference in net thicknesses. It is also shown that the effect of constraint should not be evaluated from the load arrying capacity of the specimen, but rather from the distribution of stress intensity factor along the crack front.

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Résumé Il est courant de nantir d'une entaille de bord les éprouvettes de mécanique de rupture pour provoquer un champ de contraintes uniforme à l'extrémité de la fissure. Cette pratique peut néanmoins affecter la ténacité à la rupture en raison des modifications dans l'épaisseur nette et dans le bridage.La présente étude, que est basée sur l'approache probabilistique de Weibull, montre que dans une rupture fragile la différence entre les ténacités à la rupture mesurées avec des éprouvetes sans entailles et avec un entaillage à 20% résulte essentiellement de la différence qui caractérise les épaisseurs nettes:On montre également que l'effet du bridage ne peut être déduit de la capacité qu'a l'éprouvette de supporter la charge, mais bien plutôt de la distribution du facteur d'intensité des contraintes le long du front de la fissure.

     

Phase-Tunable Low-Loss, S-, C-, and L-Band DPSK and DQPSK Demodulator

Differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) and differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) are touted as performers and reliable advanced modulation formats for next-generation optical transmission systems. One key device enabling such systems is the delay interferometer, converting the signal phase information into intensity modulation to be detected by the photodiodes. We developed an all-fiber delay-line interferometer for DPSK and DQPSK demodulation in the S-, C-, and L-band with low insertion loss, low-birefringence, and greater than 30 dB of extinction ratio over 100 nm and 20 dB from 1460 to 1640 nm in a single device. The device also features insensitivity to mechanical vibration, very low port imbalance (0.1 dB), and very low time delay between all outputs (0.1 ps). The device is highly reliable with a demonstrated failure-in-time rate of less than 100.     

Monitoring Binding of HIV‐1 Capsid Assembly Inhibitors Using 19F Ligand‐and 15N Protein‐Based NMR and X‐ray Crystallography: Early Hit Validation of a Benzodiazepine Series

The emergence of resistance to existing classes of antiretroviral drugs underlines the need to find novel human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐1 targets for drug discovery. The viral capsid protein (CA) represents one such potential target. Recently, a series of benzodiazepine inhibitors was identified via high‐throughput screening using an in vitro capsid assembly assay (CAA). Here, we demonstrate how a combination of NMR and X‐ray co‐crystallography allowed for the rapid characterization of the early hits from this inhibitor series. Ligand‐based ¹⁹F NMR was used to confirm inhibitor binding specificity and reversibility as well as to identify the N‐terminal domain of the capsid (CA_NTD) as its molecular target. Protein‐based NMR (¹H and ¹⁵N chemical shift perturbation analysis) identified key residues within the CA_NTD involved in inhibitor binding, while X‐ray co‐crystallography confirmed the inhibitor binding site and its binding mode. Based on these results, two conformationally restricted cyclic inhibitors were designed to further validate the possible binding modes. These studies were crucial to early hit confirmation and subsequent lead optimization.     

Fuzzy controller tuning of a boost rectifier unity power factor correction by experimental designs

This paper shows the validity of experimental designs as an efficient on-site tuning tool for fuzzy controllers, dedicated to electrical engineering applications with multi-objective criteria. Our purpose is to improve the input and output system characteristics that is to say the global quality of the electrical power in a boost rectifier with unity power factor correction. The desirability notion here combines the time dynamic and harmonic criteria and illustrates the trade-off that has to be satisfied between different properties.     

Narrow-bandwidth optical waveguide transmission filters

A general method for fabricating narrowband transmission filters at optical frequencies is proposed. For fibre- or integrated-optic applications the method consists of forming a waveguide loop by connecting the output ports of a 3dB coupler to each other. A Bragg reflection grating in the loop determines the filters frequency response.     

Evaluation of Kermeta for solving graph-based problems

Kermeta is a meta-language for specifying the structure and behavior of graphs of interconnected objects called models. In this paper, we show that Kermeta is relatively suitable for solving three graph-based problems. First, Kermeta allows the specification of generic model transformations such as refactorings that we apply to different metamodels including Ecore, Java, and Uml. Second, we demonstrate the extensibility of Kermeta to the formal language Alloy using an inter-language model transformation. Kermeta uses Alloy to generate recommendations for completing partially specified models. Third, we show that the Kermeta compiler achieves better execution time and memory performance compared to similar graph-based approaches using a common case study. The three solutions proposed for those graph-based problems and their evaluation with Kermeta according to the criteria of genericity, extensibility, and performance are the main contribution of the paper. Another contribution is the comparison of these solutions with those proposed by other graph-based tools.     

256-channel bidirectional optical interconnect using VCSELs andphotodiodes on CMOS

Two-dimensional parallel optical interconnects (2-D-POIs) are capable of providing large connectivity between elements in computing and switching systems. Using this technology we have demonstrated a bidirectional optical interconnect between two printed circuit boards containing optoelectronic (OE) very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits. The OE-VLSI circuits were constructed using vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and photodiodes (PDs) flip-chip bump-bonded to a 0.35-μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip. The CMOS was comprised of 256 laser driver circuits, 256 receiver circuits, and the corresponding buffering and control circuits required to operate the large transceiver array. This is the first system, to our knowledge, to send bidirectional data optically between OE-VLSI chips that have both VCSELs and photodiodes cointegrated on the same substrate     

On-Line Monitoring of Mechanical Faults in Variable-Speed Induction Motor Drives Using the Wigner Distribution

This paper deals with the detection of mechanical load faults in induction motors during speed transients. The detection strategy is based on stator current analysis. Mechanical load faults generally lead to load torque oscillations at specific frequencies related to the mechanical rotor speed. The torque oscillations produce a characteristic sinusoidal phase modulation of the stator current. Speed transients result in time-varying supply frequencies that prevent the use of classical, Fourier transform-based spectral estimation. This paper proposes the use of a time-frequency distribution, the Wigner Distribution, for stator current analysis. Fault indicators are extracted from the distribution for on-line condition monitoring. The proposed methods are implemented on a low-cost digital signal processor. Experimental results in a steady-state and during transients with load torque oscillations and load imbalance are presented.