Experimental investigation on the detachable thermosiphon for conduction-cooled superconducting magnets

A detachable thermosiphon, as a transient thermal switch for conduction-cooled superconducting magnet, is designed, fabricated and tested. A thermosiphon between the first and second stages of a cryocooler can reduce the cool-down time of a conduction-cooled superconducting magnet by using the large cooling capacity of the first stage. The thermosiphon is a very efficient heat transfer device until all the working fluid in it freezes (off-state). After the working fluid freezes and the second stage temperature becomes lower than that of the first stage, however, the thermosiphon then becomes a conduction heat leak path between two stages of the cryocooler. Considering a very small cooling capacity of the second stage of the cryocooler around 4.2 K, the conduction heat loss is not negligible. Therefore, a detachable thermosiphon, made of a metal bellows, is considered to be able to eliminate such a conduction heat leak. The mock-up magnet is cooled down with the thermosiphon and the thermodynamic states of the thermosiphon and the mock-up magnet are precisely examined during the whole cool-down process. At off-state, the thermosiphon is detached mechanically from the magnet. In this way, the conduction heat leak path through the thermosiphon wall is completely eliminated. This paper describes the detailed transient operation of the detachable thermosiphon using nitrogen as the working fluid.     

Dual Toll Pricing for Hazardous Materials Transport with Linear Delay

In this paper, we propose a dual toll pricing method to mitigate risk of hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation. We aim to simultaneously control both regular and hazmat vehicles to reduce the risk. In our model, we incorporate a new risk measure to consider duration-population-frequency of hazmat exposure. We first formulate the model as a Mathematical Program with Equilibrium Constraints (MPEC). Then we decompose the MPEC formulation into first-stage and second-stage problems. Separate methods are developed to solve each stage. A numerical example is provided and possible extensions are discussed.     

Robust Facility Location Problem for Hazardous Waste Transportation

We consider a robust facility location problem for hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation considering routing decisions of hazmat carriers. Given a network and a known set of nodes from which hazmat originate, we compute the locations of hazmat processing sites (e.g. incinerators) which will minimize total cost, in terms of fixed facility cost, transportation cost, and exposure risk. We assume that hazmat will be taken to the closest existing processing site. We present an exact full enumeration method, which is useful for small or medium-size problems. For larger problems, the use of a genetic algorithm is explored. Through numerical experiments, we discuss the impact of uncertainty and robust optimization in the hazmat combined location-routing problem.     

A study on squeal noise reduction considering the pad shape of the disc brake system for urban railway vehicles

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - In this paper, to help reduce the squeal noise produced during the braking of urban railway vehicles, the shape of the disc brake pad was investigated...     

Effects of the Surface Contact on the Uncertainty in Indentation Yield Strength: Surface Roughness and Angular Misalignment

Metals and Materials International - We suggest a method for accurately estimating the uncertainty of indentation yield strength determined from the modified Meyer relation as a mathematical...     

Quantum‐dots‐based detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 using RNA aptamer on chip

BACKGROUND: Over 170 million people, more than 3% of the world's population, suffer from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the rate of death from liver‐related mortality to HCV has increased. In respect of this, the development of assays for biological imaging should be urgently considered as an essential factor in diagnosis. RESULTS: A novel HCV‐detecting technique using a nanoparticle‐supported aptamer probe was demonstrated. With the aid of nanoparticle quantum dots (QDs) with carboxyl group as an imaging probe, and 5′‐end‐amine‐modified RNA oligonucleotide as a capturing probe, target HCV NS3 was visually detected on chip. The QDs‐based RNA aptamer for HCV NS3 showed high selectivity and specificity against other protein such as BSA. The detection limit of HCV NS3 protein was 5 ng mL^?1 level. CONCLUSION: With a novel strategy for protein–aptamer interaction, the feasibility of applying QDs‐based fluorescent detection technique to HCV viral protein assay for the development of a protein biochip was demonstrated. This scheme of QDs‐mediated imaging with a target‐oriented specific RNA aptamer for the detection of infectious HCV diseases provides an efficient strategy and a promising new platform for monitoring applications. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Energy-based control of a haptic device using brakes.

This paper proposes an energy-based control method of a haptic device with electric brakes. Unsmooth motion is frequently observed in a haptic system using brakes during a wall-following task. Since it is generally known that a haptic system using brakes is passive due to brake's characteristics, its energy behavior has seldom been investigated. However, force distribution at the end effector reveals that the unsmooth motion of a haptic system using brakes represents active behavior of the system in the specific direction. A force control scheme is proposed that computes the gain for smooth motion by considering the energy behavior of a system. Experiments show that smooth wall following is possible with a proposed force control scheme.