A theoretical deduction of the shape and size of nanocarbons suitable for hydrogen storage

We evaluated the adsorption energy of a hydrogen molecule in nanocarbons consisting of graphene sheets. The nanocarbon shapes were a pair of disks with separation 2d, a cylinder with radius d, and a truncated sphere with radius d. We obtained the adsorption energy in the form of a 10–4 Lennard–Jones function with respect to 1/d. The values of the potential depth (D) and equilibrium distance (d _e), respectively, were 94 meV and 2.89 Å for the disk pair, 158 meV and 3.14 Å for the cylinder, and 203 meV and 3.37 Å for the sphere. When d=d _e, the adsorption energy of the disk pair (cylinder) became deeper than ?0.9D, and it approached ?D when the radius (length) increased to more than twice its separation (radius). The adsorption energy of the sphere was increased from ?D to ?0.5D when the radius of the opening increased from 0 to d _e. These results suggest that porous carbon materials can increase the adsorption energy by up to ～200 meV if the carbon atoms are arranged on a spherical-like surface with ～7 Å separation. This may lead to practical hydrogen storage for fuel cells.     

Colloidal dipolar interactions in 2D smectic-C films

We use a two-dimensional (2D) elastic free energy to calculate the effective interaction between two circular disks immersed in smectic-C films. For strong homeotropic anchoring, the distortion of the director field caused by the disks generates topological defects that induce an effective interaction between the disks. We use finite elements, with adaptive meshing, to minimize the 2D elastic free energy. The method is shown to be accurate and efficient for inhomogeneities on the length scales set by the disks and the defects, that differ by up to 3 orders of magnitude. We compute the effective interaction between two disk-defect pairs in a simple (linear) configuration. For large disk separations, D, the elastic free energy scales as ∼D ^-2, confirming the dipolar character of the long-range effective interaction. For small D the energy exhibits a pronounced minimum. The lowest energy corresponds to a symmetrical configuration of the disk-defect pairs, with the inner defect at the mid-point between the disks. The disks are separated by a distance that is twice the distance of the outer defect from the nearest disk. The latter is identical to the equilibrium distance of a defect nucleated by an isolated disk. Received 26 October 2001 and Received in final form 14 December 2001     

Differentially Rotating Disks of Dust: Arbitrary Rotation Law

In this paper, solutions to the Ernst equation are investigated that depend on two real analytic functions defined on the interval [0,1]. These solutions are introduced by a suitable limiting process of Bäcklund transformations applied to seed solutions of the Weyl class. It turns out that this class of solutions contains the general relativistic gravitational field of an arbitrary differentially rotating disk of dust, for which a continuous transition to some Newtonian disk exists. It will be shown how for given boundary conditions (i.e. proper surface mass density or angular velocity of the disk) the gravitational field can be approximated in terms of the above solutions. Furthermore, particular examples will be discussed, including disks with a realistic profile for the angular velocity and more exotic disks possessing two spatially separated ergoregions.     

Effect of the surface crystallographic orientation and thickness of Fe-3 wt%Si single crystals on magnetic losses in rotating magnetic fields

The response of magnetic losses to rotation-induced magnetization reversal in single-crystal Fe-3 wt%Si disks is studied as a function of the disk thickness and magnetic induction. It is shown that the loss power varies nonmonotonically with disk thickness d, exhibiting a minimum at d = 0.15 mm. The crystallographic orientation of the disk surface significantly influences the amount of the losses. The variation of the losses is discussed with regard to the effect a rotating magnetic field has on the domain structure.     

Pressure-sensitive paint measurement on co-rotating disks in a hard disk drive

There is much demand for improvement in the performance of a hard disk drive (HDD) along with recent rapid developments of information technology. While high-speed disk rotation of a HDD is necessary to accommodate such needs, it causes disk flutter induced by pressure fluctuation on disks and degrades reliability of a HDD. In order to understand the mechanism of the fluttering phenomenon, it is important to know pressure field on the rotating disk. However, it is impossible to measure the pressure by ordinary methods such as pressure taps. Pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) is a pressure measurement technique based on the oxygen quenching of luminescence and enables us to measure the pressure non-invasively. In general, however, the temperature sensitivity of PSP makes it difficult to measure the precise pressure on the surface with temperature distribution. We measured the time-averaged pressure on the disk rotating at 10 000-20 000 rpm for the first time by adopting a temperature-insensitive PSP composed of pyrene sulfonic acid (PySO₃H) as a luminophore. It was found that the pressure forms a concentric circular distribution and decreases toward the center of the disk. Additionally, we elucidate how disk rotational speed and spacing between co-rotating disks influence on the pressure field.     

Colloidal interactions in two-dimensional nematics

The interaction between two disks immersed in a 2D nematic is investigated i) analytically using the tensor order parameter formalism for the nematic configuration around isolated disks and ii) numerically using finite-element methods with adaptive meshing to minimize the corresponding Landau-de Gennes free energy. For strong homeotropic anchoring, each disk generates a pair of defects with one-half topological charge responsible for the 2D quadrupolar interaction between the disks at large distances. At short distance, the position of the defects may change, leading to unexpected complex interactions with the quadrupolar repulsive interactions becoming attractive. This short-range attraction in all directions is still anisotropic. As the distance between the disks decreases, their preferred relative orientation with respect to the far-field nematic director changes from oblique to perpendicular. Received 1 October 2002 and Received in final form 12 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: miko@cii.fc.ul.pt     

Geometry of random sequential adsorption

By sequentially adding line segments to a line or disks to a surface at random positions without overlaps, we obtain configurations of the one- and two-dimensional random sequential adsorption (RSA) problem. We have simulated the one- and two-dimensional problem with periodic boundary condition. The one-dimensional simulations are compared with the exact analytical solutions to give an estimate of the accuracy of the simulation. In two dimensions the geometrical properties of the RSA configuration are discussed and in addition known results of the RSA process are reproduced. Various statistical distributions of the Voronoi-Dirichlet (VD) network corresponding to the RSA disk configuration are analyzed. In order to characterize pores in the RSA configuration, we introduce circular holes. There is a direct correspondence between vertices of the VD network and these holes, and also between direct/indirect geometrical neighbors and these holes. The hole size distribution is found to be a parabola. We also find general relations that connect the asymptotic behavior of the surface coverage, the correlation function, and the hole size distribution.     

光盘信息符散斑图的统计特性研究

提出了一种用激光散斑测量光盘信息符统计特性的方法.利用散斑统计理论中衍射散斑场的平均对比度与散射屏表面粗糙度近似成线性关系,把光盘等效为弱散射屏,对未刻录、刻录及存在缺陷的CD-R光盘不同区域形成的衍射散斑图进行了对比研究.实验结果表明,该方法具有可量化、全场测量的优点,能够表征光盘信息符的某些统计特性,这为测量光盘刻录质量提供了一种新的方法和途径.     

On the effects of a general form of the initial runout on the oscillation frequencies and critical speeds of a spinning disk

This paper is concerned with the effect of the lack of flatness on the dynamics of spinning disks. Of particular interest is the study of the effect of an unsymmetrical initial runout on the oscillation frequencies and the critical speeds of the spinning disks. It is assumed that a spinning disk is initially warped in an initial asymmetric shape. Using Von Karman's plate theory, the equations of motion are derived in a rotating frame. Taking advantage of the orthogonal properties of the eigenfunctions of a stationary disk, the lateral displacement and the stress function are expressed as their summation. Since these eigenfunctions produce an orthonormal space, any shape and level of initial runout can be written as their summation also. Using Galerkin's method, the equations of motion are discretized and a set of coupled linear equations are found taking into account the effect of an initial arbitrary runout. The numerical results are found to have a good agreement with those obtained using ANSYS. It is found that the natural frequencies of the spinning disk calculated in the space fixed frame increases due to an initial runout. When the initial runout is assumed to be asymmetric, it is found that, due to asymmetric stress distributed in the disk, a frequency split between the backward and forward traveling waves of a given preferential mode of a stationary disk occurs. It is also seen that in some cases the initial runout in the form of the (n,m) mode has the least effect on the natural frequencies of the backward traveling waves of the same mode. As such it is observed that in the case the critical speed the (n,m) mode is less sensitive to an initial runout in the form of the (n,m) mode. To verify the accuracy of the numerical predictions, experiments were conducted on two disks, one which was flat and the other that had an initial nonflatness in the form of the (0,2) mode. The numerical and experimental results indicate a close correspondence.     

一种面向编译器的数据访问节能技术研究

当前针对磁盘功率管理的大部分研究都是把重点放在磁盘空闲周期的利用上。人们相继研究了硬件功率节约机制(比如降速磁盘和多速磁盘)和补充性的软件策略(比如改变代码和数据布局,以提高空闲周期的长度)。然而,硬件功率节约机制无法处理高能耗并行应用的短空闲周期,而代码/数据重组策略往往要求大规模的代码更改。在本文中,我们提出一种面向编译器的数据访问(I/O调用)调度技术,以节约磁盘能量,在更短的周期内聚集了尽可能多的数据请求,进而延长了磁盘空闲周期,提升硬件功率管理机制的有效性。与先前基于软件的策略相比,该技术不需重组代码或数据。在基于集群的仿真环境下结合6种应用程序对本文方法进行评估。结果表明,本文方法提升了降速磁盘和多速磁盘的性能,将功率节约平均效果提升了一倍。     

High surface plasmon resonance sensitivity enabled by optical disks

We report a systematic, experimental, and theoretical investigation on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing using optical disks with different track pitches, including Blu-ray disk (BD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and compact disk (CD). Optical reflection measurements indicate that CD and DVD exhibit much higher SPR sensitivity than BD. Both experiments and finite-difference time-domain simulations reveal that the SPR sensitivity is significantly affected by the diffraction order of the SPR peaks and higher diffraction order results in lower sensitivity. Numerical simulations also show that very high sensitivity (～1600 nm per refractive index unit) is achievable by CDs.     

Irreversible adsorption of diffusing hard disks: an effective medium approach

We propose an effective medium theory to analyze the kinetics of nonsequential adsorption of colloidal particles, including transport and blocking effects, valid at all values of surface coverage. The theory is applied to the irreversible adsorption of diffusing hard disks obtaining a kinetic law, which is in excellent agreement with nonsequential computer simulations at all densities of adsorbed particles.     

Experimental study of vibrational behavior of laminated annular disks

The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study of the vibrational behavior of laminated annular disks, and effects of laminations on the vibrations of the disks. The vibrations of a series of solid annular disks were calculated using the finite-element method in order to provide a basis for comparison with experimental data. An extensive range of experiments was performed on both a series of solid disks and a series of laminated disks under a range of normal clamping pressures. Based on the calculated and experimental results, it was found that the vibrational behavior of the laminated disks was dominated by that of the individual disk, of which the laminated disks were composed. Laminations had great effects on the vibrational behavior of the laminated disks and the effects depended upon the mode type, the clamping pressure, and the number of disk assembly. Laminations increased damping and reduced the amplitude of frequency response function for both the transverse modes and in-plane modes of disks. The resonant frequency of transverse modes shifted higher because of the effects of laminations. For the in-plane vibrational modes, the effects on the resonant frequency could be neglected and the resonant frequency could be considered to be a constant.     

高功率盒形窗内次级电子倍增效应

以S波段高功率盒型窗为对象,采用Monte Carlo模拟方法对盒型窗内的次级电子倍增效应进行研究,探索次级电子的倍增规律。模拟得到了盒型窗内TE11模和TM11模共同作用下,两种陶瓷窗片表面次级电子倍增活跃的区域随传输功率的变化特点。在低传输功率下,次级电子仅在未镀膜窗片表面被激励,并以双面倍增的方式在金属法兰与镀膜窗片相对应的区域增长;在较高的传输功率下,窗片表面的次级电子将以单面倍增的方式活跃在窗片表面与波导口相对的区域。传输功率的升高使得镀膜窗片表面的次级电子倍增活跃区域转移到矩形波导窄边对应的区域,并加剧了未镀膜窗片表面的局部倍增效应。     

Vibration and critical speeds of composite-ring disks for data storage

A new concept for data storage disks is proposed to increase operating speed with minimum changes in the geometry and design of conventional data storage disks. The disk—named a composite-ring disk—is composed of a storage material inside and a thin composite ring outside. Stress distributions are found for the rotating disk composed of two annular disks, of which the inside is made of isotropic material and the outside is made of orthotropic material. The dynamic equation for a composite-ring disk in rotation is formulated to calculate its natural frequencies and critical speeds. For the solution of transverse vibration, a rotational symmetry condition is applied in the circumferential direction and a finite element interpolation with Hermite polynomials is performed in the radial direction. The results show that reinforcing a disk at the rim increases critical speeds drastically, and can cause buckling in mode (0,0) which occurs above the lowest critical speed.     

Pilot experiments on retrospective thoron measurements by CDs/DVDs

Recently, a new concept for retrospective measurements of thoron (²²⁰Rn) by CDs/DVDs has been proposed. It is based on etching and counting alpha tracks at two depths (one at 64–76 μm interval and the other at > 76 μm) beneath the disk's surface. In this report we present results of two pilot laboratory experiments that aim to test the approach. In the first experiment DVDs packed in a variety of jewel cases were exposed, while in the second bare disks were exposed. The sensitivity obtained by bare disks is much higher than that of the disks in cases. However, the response of the bare disks is affected by nearby objects that shadow the disk surface. There are individual variations by a factor of four in the response of the disks exposed in different jewel cases. We interpret this in terms of different diffusion resistance of the different jewel cases. The conclusion is that individual a posteriori calibration will be necessary to make retrospective thoron measurements by that method more precise.     

A passive means for cancellation of structurally radiated tones

The concept of cancellation of constant-frequency sound radiated from a vibrating surface by means of an attached mechanical oscillator is discussed. It is observed that the mass of a mechanical oscillator whose spring is attached to the vibrating surface will vibrate at comparatively large amplitudes and out of phase with that surface, provided that the surface vibrates at a frequency that is slightly higher than the oscillator's natural frequency. From this observation it is concluded that an oscillator's mass with a relatively small surface area can produce a volume velocity that is equal and opposite to that of the vibrating surface, resulting in cancellation of the sound radiated from the surface. Practical considerations in the design of such an oscillator are discussed, and the canceling performance from oscillators consisting of edge-supported circular disks is analyzed. An experimental canceling oscillator consisting of an edge-supported disk is described, and measurements made with this disk attached to a piston are shown to be in good agreement with analytical predictions. A tonal noise reduction exceeding 20 dB was demonstrated experimentally.     

Strong near-field couplings of anapole modes and formation of higher-order electromagnetic modes in stacked all-dielectric nanodisks

We theoretically study the near-field couplings of two stacked all-dielectric nanodisks, where each disk has an electric anapole mode consisting of an electric dipole mode and an electric toroidal dipole (ETD) mode. Strong bonding and anti-bonding hybridizations of the ETD modes of the two disks occur. The bonding hybridized ETD can interfere with the dimer's electric dipole mode and induce a new electric anapole mode. The anti-bonding hybridization of the ETD modes can induce a magnetic toroidal dipole (MTD) response in the disk dimer. The MTD and magnetic dipole resonances of the dimer form a magnetic anapole mode. Thus, two dips associated with the hybridized modes appear on the scattering spectrum of the dimer. Furthermore, the MTD mode is also accompanied by an electric toroidal quadrupole mode. The hybridizations of the ETD and the induced higher-order modes can be adjusted by varying the geometries of the disks. The strong anapole mode couplings and the corresponding rich higher-order mode responses in simple all-dielectric nanostructures can provide new opportunities for nanoscale optical manipulations.     

Dynamic Superposition and Levitation Capability of Two Confronting Ultrasonic Waves

The superposition dynamics of two confronting ultrasonic waves and their levitation capability for centimeter-sized thin disks are investigated by numerical analyses and validated by experiments. The sound pressure simulation reveals that two opposite ultrasonic waves provide a more effective standing-wave field than a single ultrasonic wave when the diameter of disk-shaped object approaches the wavelength scale. The dynamic superposition of two confronting beams facilitates the acoustic levitation of the clay disk and aluminum disk with diameters of 0.97 and 0.90. The acoustic radiation forces exerting on these thin disks are measured experimentally, which exhibit a better levitation stability for the centimeter-sized thin disks. The equilibrium levitation positions of the two disks are located near the sound pressure node, and the maximum acoustic radiation pressure on their surfaces is less than one percent of the maximum sound pressure.     

Viscoresistive MHD configurations of plasma in accretion disks

We present a discussion of two-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) configurations, concerning the equilibria of accretion disks of a strongly magnetized astrophysical object. We set up a viscoresistive scenario which generalizes previous two-dimensional analyses by reconciling the ideal MHD coupling of the vertical and the radial equilibria within the disk with the standard mechanism of the angular momentum transport, relying on dissipative properties of the plasma configuration. The linear features of the considered model are analytically developed and the non-linear configuration problem is addressed, by fixing the entire disk profile at the same order of approximation. Indeed, the azimuthal and electron force balance equations are no longer automatically satisfied when poloidal currents and matter fluxes are included in the problem. These additional components of the equilibrium configuration induce a different morphology of the magnetic flux surface, with respect to the ideal and simply rotating disk.