An application of bubble collapse pulse height spectra to venturi cavitation erosion of 1100-o aluminum

Venturi cavitation erosion tests were performed and correlated with bubble collapse pulse height spectra measured by a microtransducer. The effects of the throat velocity and the cavitation number σ (referred to the downstream pressure and throat velocity) on the erosion rate (MDPR) were studied. The velocity damage exponent was 4.11 for 0.62 ? σ ? 0.80, while the MDPR is almost independent of velocity for σ = 0.85. The MDPR decreases with increased σ for 0.62 ? σ ? 0.85. The data were reduced to “acoustic power” (from pulse height spectra) and “erosion power” (the ultimate resilience multiplied by the MDPR). A near-linear relationship was found between these. Their reciprocal ratio η_cav ≈ 7 × 10^?11. For σ = 0.62, the data deviated from the others, possibly because of the work hardening of the eroded surface.     

Consideration of decontamination model for severe accident consequence assessment

Cost per severe accident, which can cover various kinds of consequences, namely health effects, economic, social and environmental impacts, has been used as an index for severe accident consequence assessment in the authors' previous studies. Decontamination of the contaminated area was concluded influential to the cost per severe accident, though it employed simple and conservative assumptions, which made further discussion difficult. A new decontamination model is formed to address this issue. A sensitivity analysis using the elementary effects method is performed to identify parameters which have large influence on the cost per severe accident. We identify 25 important parameters, and fix most negligible parameters to their medians to form a simplified decontamination model. Calculations of the cost per severe accident with the simplified model and the full model are performed and compared. The differences of the results of the two model are not significant, which ensure the validity of the simplified model. The cost per severe accident calculated by the simplified model is compared with the previous study. The decontamination cost increases its importance significantly. It is therefore necessary to pay attention to decontamination-related issues, e.g., determination of decontamination target area and decontamination waste management scheme.     

Energy transport simulation for graded HBT's: Importance of settingadequate values for transport parameters

An energy transport simulation method for graded AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is presented in which Al composition-, doping density-, and energy-dependences of transport parameters are considered. For several representative Al composition and doping densities, parameters such as electron mobility, energy relaxation time, and upper-valley fraction are evaluated as a function of electron energy by a Monte Carlo method. For the other Al composition, these are determined by a linear interpolation method. Calculated cutoff frequency characteristics and electron velocity profiles are compared with those obtained by using more simplified approaches, demonstrating the importance of giving adequate transport parameters, particularly in analyzing graded band-gap base HBTs     

Widely tunable Ce- and Er-codoped fluorozirconate fiber laser with 975-nm laser diode pumping

A spectrally narrowed widely tunable Ce/sup 3+/: Er/sup 3+/-codoped fluorozirconate (ZBLAN) fiber laser with a continuous-wave laser diode pumping at 975-nm pumping is demonstrated. Wide tunable range over 120 nm (1490-1610 nm) is attained by using a diffraction grating combined with a tuning mirror in the Ce/sup 3+/: Er/sup 3+/-ZBLAN fiber laser cavity. Rate-equation model analysis shows that the tunable range can expand further by using a wavelength-dependent reflectivity cavity mirror.     

2.44-GFLOPS 300-MHz floating-point vector-processing unit forhigh-performance 3D graphics computing

A vector unit for high-performance three-dimensional graphics computing has been developed. We implement four floating-point multiply-accumulate units, which execute multiply-add operations with one throughput; one floating-point divide/square root unit, which executes division and square-root operations with six cycles at 300 MHz; and one vector general-purpose register file, which has 128 bits×32 words. The parallel execution of all units delivers a peak performance of 2.44 GFLOPS at 300 MHz     

The effect of the molecular structure of a cationic azo dye on the photoinduced intercalation of phenol in a montmorillonite

The effect of the molecular structure of a cationic azo dye on the photoinduced intercalation of phenol into the azo dye-montmorillonites was reported. Two types of cationic azo dyes were used; one has (2-hydroxyethyl)dimethylammonium group (AZ(OH)⁺), and the other has trimethylammonium group (AZ(CH₃)⁺). Phenol was intercalated into both cation exchanged azo dye-montmorillonites (Kunipia F) by mechanical mixing without solvent. By the UV irradiation, the basal spacings increased further, and subsequent visible light irradiation led to decrease the basal spacings, indicating the intercalation and the deintercalation of phenol by the UV and visible light, respectively. The amounts of the phenol intercalated both chemically and photochemically varied depending on the azobenzene cations, showing the interactions between the cationic head group and phenol.     

Ice storage system with water–oil mixture: formation of suspension with high IPF

A new method of forming ice, which is one of the dynamic types of ice storage system, is studied. In the method a water-oil emulsion is cooled with stirring in a vessel and changed into an ice-oil and water suspension. A mixture of 10 vol% silicone-oil and 90 vol% water is emulsified with a small amount of an additive. Silane-couplers are tested as the additive and effects of the additive on ice formation process are investigated. Cooling rate is changed and vessels made of various materials are tested. It is proved that the present method has the following characteristics. Ice–oil and water suspension (slush ice) which has a good fluidity is able to be formed without adhering to the cooling surface. Ice in the suspension is granular and dispersed state and the suspension with more than 70% of ice packing factor (IPF) is also able to be formed. The suspension with the high IPF can be preserved for a long time in the granular state.     

High performance of electroless-plated platinum electrode for electrochemical hydrogen pumps using strontium-zirconate-based proton conductors

The performance of an electroless-plated platinum electrode for electrochemical hydrogen pumps was investigated using SrZr_0.9Y_0.1O_3−α (10Y-SZO) and SrZr_0.5Ce_0.4Y_0.1O_3−α (10Y-SZCO) as proton-conducting electrolytes. The plated electrodes using these electrolytes showed quite low overpotentials, resulting in high performance of the hydrogen pumps. The high electrode performance is interpreted from the viewpoint of the three-phase boundary (TPB) length: the plated electrode has a larger TPB length per unit area than that of the pasted electrode. The difference between 10Y-SZO and 10Y-SZCO in ability to match with platinum electrodes is also discussed, and the possibility that the TPB width of 10Y-SZCO with platinum is larger than that of 10Y-SZO is suggested.