Breakdown characteristics of oil and paper insulation for a very fast transient voltage

This paper describes the dielectric breakdown characteristics of oil and oil‐impregnated paper for very fast transient (VFT) voltages. Blumlein circuits generate VFT voltages of 60 and 300 ns in a pulse width that simulates disconnecting switching surges in gas‐insulated switch gears. We measured the breakdown voltages of needle‐to‐plane, plane‐to‐plane oil gaps and several pieces of paper between plane electrodes for VFT and lightning impulse voltages. The measured data were formulated in V‐t characteristics and Weibull probability distributions. The inclination n of V‐t characteristics of insulating paper is 150, which is less than n = 13.7 of the plane‐to‐plane oil gap in the VFT time range. The shape parameters of Weibull distribution obtained in this study show that the scattering of breakdown voltages of paper is much less than that of oil. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(4): 16–24, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10043     

Gas absorption accompanied by an instantaneous irreversible reaction in laminar falling films of pseudoplastic liquids

Gas absorption accompanied by an instantaneous irreversible chemical reaction into laminar falling films of power-law liquids was studied theoretically. The convective-diffusion equations for a solute gas and a liquid-phase reactant were solved numerically and the numerical solution for the reaction factor was obtained as a function of the Graetz number, the concentration ratio, the diffusivity ratio and the power-law index of the liquid.     

Superconductivity in the tetragonal phase of La1.9Bi0.1CuO4+δ annealed under high oxygen pressure

We have investigated the relation between the crystal structure and superconductivity in La_1.9Bi_0.1CuO_4+δ , in which the phase separation observed in La₂CuO_4+δ is suppressed. A phase diagram in theT?δ plane is given for La_1.9Bi_0.1CuO_4+δ with excess oxygen. For very smallδ values, the crystal structure is orthorhombic, and an orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition occurs markedly atδ ～ 0.03 in the measured temperature range between 13 and 293 K. Superconductivity is observed in the range of 0.04<δ<0.11. This is clear evidence thathigh-T _c superconductivity also appears in the tetragonal phase.     

Improvement of emission efficiency in polymer light-emitting devices based on phosphorescent polymers

We report improvement of emission efficiency in polymer light-emitting devices (PLEDs) employing phosphorescent polymers. A hole-blocking layer was inserted between the emissive layer and the cathode to enhance recombination efficiency for the injected holes and electrons. Aluminum(III)bis(2-methyl-8-quinolinato)4-phenylphenolato (BAlq) was used for the hole-blocking layer. The resultant PLEDs exhibited significant improvement of emission efficiency. The respective external quantum efficiencies for red, green and blue PLEDs were 6.6, 11 and 6.9%. These values are very high compared with those based on conventional fluorescent polymers.     

Recovery retardation in equal channel angular pressed Al–Zr alloy during friction stir welding

The effect of Zr on reduction of hardness and microstructure in an FS weld of equal channel angular-pressed Al alloy was investigated. Zr addition to Al suppressed dynamic recovery in the thermomechanically affected zone and enabled retention of the high hardness of the ECA-pressed material throughout the weld.     

IMPINGING JET DRYER

In coating and gravure printing, an impinging jet nozzle with high thermal efficiency for drying of coated film was developed.

Trial production 0f 40 kinds of nozzle enables to develop a high-performance impinging jet nozzle with heat transfer coefficient 1.5 times larger than that of current slit nozzle, through measurement of heat transfer coefficient, visualizations of air flow and heat transfer, and measuremenu of jet velocity and turbulence distribution. The purpose of the trial production was to expand a range of high heat transfer and promote turbulence compared with the current nozzle.

Paying attention to mass transfer within gravure ink coated film, drying characteristic of the film was analyzed by numerical solution of a set of equations governing the drying process in which concentration dependencies 0f the diffusion coefficient and the equilibrium vapor pressure were considered.

Applying these analyses. an industrial scale dryer with excellent drying efficiency has finally been developed.     

Generalized theorems on relationships among reducibility notions to certain complexity classes

In this paper we give several generalized theorems concerning reducibility notions to certain complexity classes. We study classes that are either (I) closed under NP many-one reductions and polynomial-time conjunctive reductions or (II) closed under coNP many-one reductions and polynomial-time disjunctive reductions. We prove that, for such a classK, (1) reducibility notions of sets toK under polynomial-time constant-round truth-table reducibility, polynomial-time log-Turing reducibility, logspace constant-round truth-table reducibility, logspace log-Turing reducibility, and logspace Turing reducibility are all equivalent and (2) every set that is polynomial-time positive Turing reducible to a set inK is already inK.From these results, we derive some observations on the reducibility notions to C₌P and NP.     

Gas absorption in laminar falling films of pseudoplastic liquids

Gas absorption into laminar falling films of power-law liquids was studied theoretically and experimentally. The convective-diffusion equation was solved by the method of separation of variables and the analytical solution for the average Sherwood number was obtained as a function of the Graetz number and the power-law index of the liquid. Experiments were carried out on the absorption of pure carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium into aqueous kaolin slurries by using a long wetted-wall column and the average absorption rates were measured as a function of the mass flow rate of the liquid. The experimental results were in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Extraction and implementation of muscle synergies in neuro-mechanical control of upper limb movement

This work faces the redundancy problem, a central concern in robotics, in a particular force-producing task by using muscle synergies to simplify the control. We extracted muscle synergies from human electromyograph signals and interpreted the physical meaning of the identified muscle synergies. Based on the human analysis results, we hypothesized a novel control framework that can explain the mechanism of the human motor control. The framework was tested in controlling a pneumatic-driven robotic arm to perform a reaching task. This control method, which uses only two synergies as manipulated variables for driving antagonistic pneumatic artificial muscles to generate desired movements, would be useful to deal with the redundancy problem; thus, suggesting a simple but efficient control for human-like robots to work safely and compliantly with humans.     

SEPARATION AND ENRICHMENT OF WEAK ORGANIC ACIDS OR BASES BY IMMOBILIZED LIQUID MEMBRANES

A new and effective liquid membrane process to achieve both separation and enrichment simultaneously of weak organic acids or bases was developed. The process utilizes effectively the difference in the apparent partition coefficient of the constituent species between the aqueous and organic phases, and uses the change of the apparent partition coefficients with the hydrogen ion concentration of the aqueous phase. For such a fundamental model apparatus as a diaphragm diffusion cell being operated batch wise, the effects of pK value of solutes, permeability of solutes through the membrane, volume ratio of liquids in two aqueous phases, and pH value of aqueous phase on enrichment factor and selectivity for the solute to be concentrated were discussed analytically. Separation and enrichment were demonstrated using aqueous mixed solutions of fumaric acid and L-malic acid. The results were in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.