An Acoustic Converter Used to Measure Ionizing Radiation Energy Loss

A monitor is proposed based on ultrasonic production when ionizing radiation passes through a medium. The recording element is a 0.2 mm aluminum plate mounted in a ceramic acoustic converter AC in the form of a wedge of thickness 2 mm. The low plate thickness minimizes the beam parameter distortion, while special technology used in the AC provides high sensitivity. The device has been calibrated in the proton beam from the ITEP accelerator at 200 MeV with 2·10⁹–6·10¹⁰ particles in a pulse and a pulse length of 70 nsec.     

Nonlinear conductivity and current-voltage characteristics of two-dimensional semiconductor superlattices

Electron transport and heating in a two-dimensional semiconductor superlattice with arbitrary orientation of the field (current) relative to the crystallographic axes is investigated in the approximation of constant energy and velocity relaxation times with electron-electron collisions taken into account. The nonlinear conductivity, average electron energies, and interrelationship between field direction and the current excited by it in an unbounded superlattice, as well as the current-voltage characteristics and the transverse electromotive force of a superlattice of finite width are found. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 31, 308–310 (March 1997)     

A RHEED study of the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth in the InAs/GaAs system

A specially developed detection system and an analysis of RHEED diffraction patterns were used to investigate the dynamics of transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional growth mechanism in the heteroepitaxial InAs/GaAs system. An analysis of the dynamics of the diffraction patterns was used for the first time to investigate the dynamics of formation of quantum dots. A time shift in the dynamic behavior of the diffracted intensity for diffraction patterns recorded at different angles was found. This shift is explained in terms of the size differences in the three-dimensional islands at the initial stage of decay of the pseudomorphic layer. InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown under certain conditions produce reflections at 45° relative to the principal reflections. This is evidence for the ordering of islands in the [001] and [010] crystallographic directions. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 31, 1230–1232 (October 1997)     

Rheological and dielectrical characterization of melt mixed polycarbonate-multiwalled carbon nanotube composites

A series of composites of polycarbonate (PC) with 23 different contents of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) was produced by melt mixing using the masterbatch dilution method. In dielectric measurements, AC conductivity and complex permittivity data obtained in the frequency range between 10⁻³ and 10⁷ Hz at room temperature indicated the electrical percolation threshold at about 1.0 wt%.

The dynamic mode melt rheological measurements for the same samples at eight temperatures between 170 and 280 °C showed a visible change in the frequency dependence of dynamic moduli and the absolute value of the complex viscosity |η*| particularly at low frequencies. In literature these changes are sometimes related to so called ‘percolation threshold concentration’. Applying this picture to our experimental data we have to assume that the percolation threshold is strongly dependent on the measurement temperature. It changes from about 5 to 0.5 wt% MWNT by increasing the measurement temperature from 170 to 280 °C, respectively. This temperature dependence cannot be explained by a classical liquid-solid transition but may be related to the existence of a combined nanotube-polymer network.     

Stabilization of PCC dispersions prepared directly in the mother-liquid after synthesis through the carbonation of (hydrated) lime

Various CaCO₃-based products are often used in the form of concentrated aqueous dispersions. This study investigates the stabilization of PCC dispersions prepared directly in the mother-liquid after the carbonation of (hydrated) lime through the adsorption of a commercial sodium polyacrylate dispersant. The results demonstrate that the composition of the mother-liquid, particularly the Ca²⁺ activity, profoundly influences virtually all processes pertinent to dispersion stabilization—from the initial charging of the CaCO₃ surface in base PCC dispersions, to the surface charge regulation and dispersion stabilization efficiency of the polyacrylate dispersing agent. Rising prominence of the counterion condensation effects in Ca²⁺ rich solutions limits the conditions conducive to the surface charge regulation through dispersant adsorption to an optimum pH range of about 8-11. Furthermore, dispersion stability analysis, based on the classical DLVO theory of colloid stability, and corroborated by experimental evidence in the form of particle size distribution analyses, also indicates that optimum stability conditions for such PCC dispersions are established with small dispersant doses (0.25-0.5% per dry weight) in the pH range of about 9-11.     

Application of predictive control methods for Radio telescope disk rotation control

Radio telescope (RT) installations are highly valuable assets and during the period of their service life they need regular repair and maintenance to be carried out for delivering satisfactory performance and minimizing downtime. Same down time can be expected during machinery usage. Constant control of telescope rotation angle is done manually using visual inspection of hardware. The accuracy of this procedure is very low, therefore, automation and computer control systems are required. With the growing automation technologies, predictive control can prove to be a better approach than the traditionally applied visual inspection policy and linear control models. In this paper, Irbene Radio telescope RT-16 disk rotation control motors are analysed using control voltage from the converters. Retrieved data from the small DC motor is used for the predictive control approach using two different methods: a neural network trained with Basic Levenberg-Marquardt method and a linear model. A multilayer perceptron network approach is used for prediction of the indicator voltage output which affects the monitoring of the disk rotating angle. Finally, an experimental control system was proposed and installed using National Instruments equipment.     

Predicting Functioning Processes of Uniaxially Oriented Polymeric Materials

Fibre Chemistry - Traditionally, prediction of functioning processes of uniaxially oriented polymeric materials faces objective difficulties due to inhomogeneity of the rheological structure of...     

Mechanical properties of high-temperature alloy ZhS32 at 1150–1250°C

The mechanical properties of single crystals of alloy ZhS32 at a temperature of 1150–1250°C and deformation rates of 3 × 10⁻⁵, 10⁻⁴, and 10⁻³ sec⁻¹ are studied. The characteristics of true ductility in tests for long-term strength in a temperature range of 1150–1250°C are determined. __________ Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 1, pp. 38–40, January, 2006.