The damping performance of aluminum-based composites

Metal-matrix composites may offer better damping properties than unreinforced alloys. Because damping properties (and metal-matrix composites) are becoming important in airframe design, the damping capabilities of a number of aluminum-matrix composites were measured over a wide range of frequencies at low strain amplitudes, using a new laser vibrometer technique. Silicon carbide and alumina reinforcements resulted in a material with damping properties similar to that of unreinforced aluminum 6061-T6, but unidirectional and planar-random graphite continuous-fiber reinforcements increased the damping by 5 and 14 times, respectively. The increased damping of the continuous fiber composites is attributed to the absence of interfacial reaction resulting from the high-pressure infiltration method used for their manufacture.     

Inertial microfluidics for continuous particle filtration and extraction

In this paper, we describe a simple passive microfluidic device with rectangular microchannel geometry for continuous particle filtration. The design takes advantage of preferential migration of particles in rectangular microchannels based on shear-induced inertial lift forces. These dominant inertial forces cause particles to move laterally and occupy equilibrium positions along the longer vertical microchannel walls. Using this principle, we demonstrate extraction of 590 nm particles from a mixture of 1.9 μm and 590 nm particles in a straight microfluidic channel with rectangular cross-section. Based on the theoretical analysis and experimental data, we describe conditions required for predicting the onset of particle equilibration in square and rectangular microchannels. The microfluidic channel design has a simple planar structure and can be easily integrated with on-chip microfluidic components for filtration and extraction of wide range of particle sizes. The ability to continuously and differentially equilibrate particles of different size without external forces in microchannels is expected to have numerous applications in filtration, cytometry, and bioseparations.     

Integrating satellite images and spectroscopy to measuring green and black tea quality

This study quantifies the effects of green leaf and black tea parameters that influence tea quality in Northeast India. It was motivated by a decline in tea quality that is of concern to tea growers. The rationale of the study is to identify the different parameters that have a significant influence on liquor brightness and other variables measuring tea quality. Here, we investigate several methods for estimating tea quality based on tea quality data, near infrared spectroscopy and remotely sensed data (NDVI). Attention focused on two high yielding clones (TV1 and S3A3). NDVI was obtained from ASTER images. Statistical analysis shows that liquor brightness is affected by the levels of caffeine content, theaflavins and catechins. Relationships exist between quality parameters and remote sensing in particular for the S3A3 clone. NDVI has a positive relation with caffeine, theogallin, EC, and ECG. NIR is negatively related to caffeine, theogallin, and catechins. We conclude that NDVI and Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have a large potential to be used for monitoring tea quality in the future.     

Control of time-dependent effects in steel-concrete composite frames

Studies are presented for the control of time-dependent effects of creep and shrinkage in steel-concrete composite frames with pre-cast concrete slab for both shored and un-shored constructions. A developed hybrid procedure has been used for carrying out the studies. The procedure accounts for creep, shrinkage and progressive cracking in concrete slab panels. Two frames, a single storey and a five storey frame are considered. It is shown that, for both the types of constructions, shored and un-shored, the increase in bending moments and mid-span deflections can be controlled to a significant degree, without putting constraints on design parameters, by simply delaying the time of mobilization of composite action between the pre-cast concrete slab panels and the steel section. It is also found that though there is insignificant effect of type of construction on bending moments, the percentage change in mid-span deflection due to creep and shrinkage is significantly higher for shored construction.     

Maltenes and Asphaltenes of Petroleum Vacuum Residues: Physico-Chemical Characterization

Solvent separation is frequently applied to petroleum vacuum residues to reduce the coke-forming tendencies of these materials. This process is capable of removing all or a substantial amount of asphaltenes from feedstocks that are destined for further processing and thus applied as the first step of refining. Maltenes and asphaltenes obtained from vacuum residues of Heera (HVR) and Jodhpur (JVR) Indian crude oils using n-hexane, n-heptane, and soluble and insoluble fractions obtained using ethyl acetate, were characterized for elemental analysis, molecular weight, conradson carbon residue (CCR), specific gravity, and pour points. The resulting degree of removal of asphaltenes ranged from 10-28 wt% of the HVR and 25-50 wt% of the JVR. The increasing trend of the American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity and the decreasing trend of CCR and pour point are observed with the increase in removal of asphaltenes.     

Novel circular-beam equalizing techniques that use graded-index fiber optics for a high-power laser diode

We demonstrate a novel method of equalizing a laser diode (LD) beam into a circular beam. This method uses the twist effect of graded index (GI) fiber optics. An asymmetric LD beam with beam qualities of M2 = 500 in the slow axis and M2 = 4 in the fast axis is converted successfully into a symmetric circular beam with a beam quality of M2 = 175. The circular-output beam with 92% coupling efficiency from the fiber input to the fiber output is obtained with a 5-m-long GI1200 (1200 means a core diameter of 1200 microm) fiber for a 2-W LD array. We extend the experiments to a higher-power source with higher asymmetric beam qualities of M2 = 3000 and M2 = 4. By slightly bending the GI10000 (10000 means a core diameter of 10,000 microm) fiber, we have succeeded in generating a symmetric beam with a improved beam quality of M2 = 2000. The average beam quality is preserved when the asymmetric ratio is not high, and the beam quality degradation ratio is investigated up to asymmetric ratios of 750.     

Analytical and numerical procedures in the application of many-body green's function methods to electron-atom scattering problems

The analytical and numerical procedures used in calculation of e^?-He elastic scattering phase shifts in the Generalized Random Phase Approximation (GRPA) and e^?-He inelastic cross sections in the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) are presented. The pertinent equations are first written in general form and analyzed into spin and angular momentum variables. In both elastic and inelastic work the transition density matrix was represented on a basis. Finite basis sets were also used to construct the static-exchange and polarization parts of the optical potential. The elastic scattering phase shifts were then evaluated numerically. In the inelastic work all calculations were done numerically. As an illustration of the usefulness of these methods, some typical results and computational times are given.     

Optimal band selection from hyperspectral data for Lantana camara discrimination

The primary objective of this research was to determine the optimal hyperspectral wavelengths based on spectroscopy data over the spectral range of 450–2500 nm for the detection of the invasive species Lantana camara L. (lantana) from seven of its co-occurring species. A procedure based on statistical analysis of the reflectance and the first derivative reflectance (FDR) identified 86 and 18 bands, respectively, where lantana significantly differed from its co-occurring species. The effectiveness of the identified optimal bands was then evaluated using Hyperion imagery. The original Hyperion image with 155 bands gave an overall accuracy of 80% compared to 77% and 76% from the 86- and 18-band spectral subsets, respectively. A pairwise comparison of the three error matrices showed no significant difference in the accuracy achieved. The FDR analysis combined with the statistical analysis proved to be a useful procedure for data reduction by refining the discrimination to fewer optimal bands for lantana detection with no adverse impact on classification accuracy.