Stress-sensitivity mapping for surface acoustic waves on quartz

A model is presented, relating the velocity shifts of surface acoustic waves (SAW) to the six tensor components of quasistatic stresses. Stress sensitivity is then defined through six independent coefficients, whatever the origin of the stress (direct external forces, thermoelastic stresses) might be. These coefficients, depending on crystal anisotropy, are computed for different cut angles and propagation directions of quartz crystal, and represented as a contour-line mapping. The determination of SAW quartz cuts compensated for both planar isotropic stresses and first-order temperature effects make it possible to define a family of quartz cuts with potentially low stress and temperature sensitivities for oscillator applications.     

Local Encoding Transformations for Optimizing OBDD-Representations of Finite State Machines

Ordered binary decision diagrams are the state-of-the-art representation of switching functions. In order to keep the sizes of OBDDs tractable, heuristics and dynamic reordering algorithms are applied to optimize the underlying variable order. When finite state machines are represented by OBDDs the state encoding can be used as an additional optimization parameter. In this paper, we analyze local encoding transformations which can be applied dynamically. First, we investigate the potential of re-encoding techniques. We then propose the use of an XOR-transformation and show why this transformation is most suitable among the set of all encoding transformations. The presented theoretical framework establishes a new optimization technique for OBDDs.     

A simple model for screening the local impacts of atmospheric ammonia

The dry deposition of ammonia from the atmosphere to the surface can lead to eutrophication of sensitive ecosystems and acidification of the soil. A large proportion of the ammonia emitted from agricultural sources can be deposited within a few kilometres and, therefore, impacts of ammonia dry deposition often occur near to the source. To assess these impacts, short-range atmospheric dispersion models are often applied to simulate the emission, dispersion and deposition of ammonia. However, these models can be time-consuming to run and often require detailed input data and, therefore, for multiple assessments it is useful to have a method of screening to discard scenarios where impacts are expected to be negligible. The SCAIL model (Simple Calculation of Ammonia Impact Limits) has been developed for this purpose. SCAIL estimates the atmospheric concentration and dry deposition at the nearest edge of a sensitive ecosystem (receptor) downwind of an ammonia source. These estimates are calculated based on simple meteorological data, the emission rate of the source, land cover type and distance to the receptor. Analysis of the model predictions showed that uncertainty in the model input data leads to an uncertainty in concentration and dry deposition estimates of 25–30% and 40–45% respectively. Detailed atmospheric dispersion models will also have similar uncertainties since they use similar types of input data. Comparison of the concentration predictions with previous measurements made around eight farms showed that the model significantly underestimated concentrations although the model performance was similar to existing screening techniques. The measurement dataset was used to calibrate the SCAIL model which subsequently performed better, using independent verification data, than existing models calibrated in a similar way. The benefits of the SCAIL model are already being seen in the UK, where it is used to screen farms for potential impacts on statutory nature conservation areas.     

Fracture of aluminium foam core sacrificial cladding subjected to air-blast loading

The effect of core density and cover plate thickness on the blast response of sacrificial cladding panels has been investigated through blast loading experiments and finite element modelling on structures with steel cover plates and aluminium foam cores. A range of foam core densities were examined, with 10%, 15% and 20% nominal relative densities. The cover plate thickness greatly influenced the response of the sacrificial cladding. Cover plates that were 2 mm thick exhibited significant permanent deformations and variable percentage crush across the section, whereas the 4 mm thick cover plates were more rigid causing the core to compress uniformly. Considerable fracture of the foam was observed after blast testing, particularly for the lower density foams. The effect of bonding the cover plate to the core was also examined. Numerical simulations of the experiments were performed using ABAQUS/Explicit to provide insight into the response mechanism. It was shown through the finite element simulations that tensile fracture of the foam occurred during the unloading phase of response and that adhesion of the cover plate to the foam caused higher levels of cracking. This was consistent with the experimental observations.     

Frequency performances of a miniature optically pumped cesium beam frequency standard

The optically pumped cesium beam clock named Cs IV is operated with a new short Ramsey cavity satisfying strict requirements on the microwave leakage level. The most relevant characteristics of the device are presented. Cs IV is presently driven by standard electronics coming from a HP 5061 B clock that provides a sinusoidal modulation of the interrogation microwave signal and a microwave power stability of about 1% at a temperature of 20+/-1 degrees C. The short- and medium-term frequency stability measurement gives sigma(y)(1 day)=2x10(-14): this value holds up to 3 days. The accuracy evaluation results in an uncertainty of 10(-12), and the repeatability is evaluated to 3x10(-13). It appears that the flicker floor is beginning at 2x10(-14) and is mainly due to both the power fluctuations of the free running microwave interrogating signal and the fluctuations of the external static magnetic field. The accuracy is limited by the lack of knowledge of the end-to-end cavity phase shift.     

Numerical investigation of the response of sandwich-type panels using thin-walled tubes subject to blast loads

The response of a novel lightweight panel design under blast loading is numerically investigated. The sandwich-type panel uses thin-walled square tubes as the core material with mild steel outer plates. A parametric study is carried out with ABAQUS/Explicit to examine the effects and interaction between design variables in three different tube layouts. Tube position, thickness and aspect ratio as well as top plate thickness are varied. Buckling stability and absorption performance are shown to be highly sensitive to tube placement due to interaction effects between the top plate and tubes. For each panel an optimal tube positioning is obtained corresponding to nearly perfect axial progressive symmetric tube buckling. Tube thickness is shown to influence the onset of buckling and hence affects the stability of the core, while energy absorption performance is also highly configurable. Tube aspect ratio shows only a small effect on core buckling stability and energy absorption. Top plate thickness influences absorber performance significantly while having a small effect on buckling stability. A simple theoretical analysis is presented and shows reasonable agreement with the numerical simulations.     

EXPERIMENTS WITH STOKER FIRING1

The use of stokers on a downdraft kiln is discussed. Results of several firings are given, changes being made to correct defects observed. Difficulties encountered and advantages noted are listed.     

SAW quartz cuts with low stress and temperature sensitivity

The effects on Rayleigh wave velocity of strains and displacement gradients induced by isotropic in-plane stresses are modelled for a thin plate of quartz crystal. The stress sensitivity of SAW devices is calculated as a function of the quartz anisotropy. Comparison with loci of zero first-order temperature coefficients leads to the expectation of quartz cuts for SAW oscillator applications with low sensitivity to stress and temperature.