A New Comb Circular Polarizer Suitable for Millimeter‐Band Application

This letter presents a new polarizer which has a simple comb structure inside a circular waveguide. The electrical performance of the proposed comb polarizer is optimized by a circular waveguide radius and by the physical parameters of the comb plates. This polarizer is suitable for providing good performance in millimeter‐band application because of its simple structure and low fabrication cost. In our experiments the dual‐band comb polarizer designed in band 1(K) and band 2(Ka) showed good electrical performance without any tuning elements.     

Knowledge-based control and case-based diagnosis based upon empirical knowledge and fuzzy logic for the SBR plant.

Because biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) involve a long time-delay and various disturbances, in general, skilled operators manually control the plant based on empirical knowledge. And operators usually diagnose the plant using similar cases experienced in the past. For the effective management of the plant, system automation has to be accomplished based upon operating recipes. This paper introduces automatic control and diagnosis based upon the operator's knowledge. Fuzzy logic was employed to design this knowledge-based controller because fuzzy logic can convert the linguistic information to rules. The controller can manage the influent and external carbon in considering the loading rate. The input of the controller is not the loading rate but the dissolved oxygen (DO) lag-time, which has a strong relation to the loading rate. This approach can replace an expensive sensor, which measures the loading rate and ammonia concentration in the reactor, with a cheaper DO sensor. The proposed controller can assure optimal operation and prevent the over-feeding problem. Case-based diagnosis was achieved by the analysis of profile patterns collected from the past. A new test profile was diagnosed by comparing it with template patterns containing normal and abnormal cases. The proposed control and diagnostic system will guarantee the effective and stable operation of WWTPs.     

Spectral shape tunable band-rejection filter using a long-period fiber grating with divided coil heaters

We have developed a new type of tunable band rejection filter, which provides high spectral-shaping flexibility in a wide tuning range. The filter consists of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) with divided coil heaters. Each of the divided coil heaters is controlled individually to adjust a temperature distribution along the LPFG and to modify the spectral shape of the LPFG filter. The tunable band rejection filter is demonstrated to function properly when applied as an erbium-doped fiber amplifier gain-flattening filter.     

Nondestructive evaluation of the characteristics of degraded materials using backward radiated ultrasound

The frequency dependency of Rayleigh surface wave is investigated indirectly by measuring the angular dependency of the backward radiation of the incident ultrasonic wave in two kinds of degraded specimens by scuffing or corrosion. Then, the frequency dependency is compared with the residual stress distribution or the corrosion-fatigue characteristics for the scuffed or corroded specimens, respectively. The width of the backward radiation profile increases with the increase of the variation in residual stress distribution for the scuffed specimens. In the corroded specimens, the profile width decreases with the increase of the effective aging layer thickness and is inversely proportional to the exponent, m, in the Paris’ law that can predict the crack size increase due to fatigue. The result observed in this study demonstrates high potential of backward radiated ultrasound as a tool for nondestructive evaluation of subsurface gradient of material degradation generated by scuffing or corrosion.     

Facile modifications of polyimide via chloromethylation: II. Synthesis and characterization of thermocurable transparent polyimide having methylene acrylate side groups

From chloromethylated polyimide, a useful starting material for modification of aromatic polyimides, a thermocurable transparent polyimide having acrylate side groups was prepared. In the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec‐7‐ene, chloromethylated polyimide was esterified with acrylic acid to synthesize poly(imide methylene acrylate). The polymer was soluble in organic solvent, which makes it possible to prepare a planar film by spin coating. The polymer film became insoluble after thermal treatment at 230 °C for 30 min. Optical transparency of the film at 400 nm (for 1 µm thickness) was higher than 98 % and not affected by further heating at 230 °C for 250 min. Adhesion properties measured by the ASTM D3359‐B method ranged from 4B to 5B. Preliminary results of planarization testing showed a high degree of planarization (DOP) value (>0.53). These properties demonstrate that poly(imide methylene acrylate) could be utilized as a thermocurable transparent material in fabricating display devices such as TFT‐LCD. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

The function of bleaching earths in the processing of palm,palm kernel and coconut oils

The results presented in the literature, which attempt to elucidate the mechanisms by which triglyceride oils are bleached by earths, are reviewed. The impact of this work and how the mechanistic proposals affect changes in oil properties are considered, with particular emphasis on the needs of the palm oil processor. Important properties include color, metals and phosphorus content and oxidative stability of the oil. Investigations made in our own laboratories have been aimed at elucidating the effect of varying physical and chemical properties of the bleaching earth on the quality of bleached and deodorized oils. Techniques used in this work are pore-size distribution, surface area, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and a variety of chemical and X-ray analysis methods. The ability to vary such parameters in montmorillonite clays by alteration of process conditions to give materials with specific performance characteristics is demonstrated. Comparisons are made between acid-activated montmorillonites and other clay types.     

Mode Matching Analysis of a Tapered Coaxial Tip in a Parallel-Plate Waveguide

A tapered coaxial tip in a parallel plate waveguide is investigated. A boundary-value problem of electromagnetic scattering from a tapered coaxial monopole is solved rigorously based on the Fourier transform, eigenfunction expansion, and mode matching. Scattering parameters are represented in a series and computed to understand the behavior of the scattering in terms of the coaxial tip geometry.