Baseline studies of radon/thoron concentration levels in and around the Lambapur and Peddagattu areas in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Studies conducted by Atomic Minerals Directorate of Exploration and Research (AMD) of Hyderabad, India had established the presence of higher concentrations of uranium in Lambapur and Peddagattu areas of Nalgonda district, AP, India and it was estimated that it could be a viable source for commercial extraction. The envisaged extraction process involves dispersion of radioactive particulate matter into atmosphere. Environmental radioactive studies in and around proposed mining areas at this point of time will be extremely useful for establishing base line data before a large scale uranium extraction process comes into existence. To this end, Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors were installed to evaluate indoor radon and thoron concentration levels in the dwellings of the area. The geometric means of radon and thoron concentration levels were found to be (7.1±0.2)×10¹ and (6.7±0.3)×10¹ Bq/m³, respectively. Simultaneously, natural background radiation measurements were also made and these levels are found to vary from 770 to 3995 μGy/y in the spatial distribution.     

A simple and sensitive analytical method for the determination of antimony in environmental and biological samples.

The results of a study and application of leucocrystal violet for the determination of antimony in parts per million levels is described here. The proposed method is based on the reaction of antimony(III) with acidified potassium iodate to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine selectively oxidizes leucocrystal violet to crystal violet dye. The formed dye shows maximum absorbance at 590 nm. The color system obeys Beer's law in the concentration range from 0.4 - 3.6 microg antimony per 25 ml of final solution. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 7.32 x 10(5) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0016 microg cm(-2), respectively. All variables were studied in order to optimize the reaction. The proposed method is satisfactorily applicable for the analysis of antimony in various environmental and biological samples. The method is simple, highly sensitive, accurate and reliable.     

Observation of inter-grain Josephson effects in Y-Ba-Cu-O samples

Josephson effects have been observed in bulk samples of Y-Ba-Cu-O. The magnitude of the zero-voltage current is found to change systematically with externally applied small magnetic fields of a few mG. It is also found to vary when samples are irradiated with microwaves. These observations suggest the presence of inter-grain Josephson junctions.     

Collapse of square and rectangular tubes in transverse loading

Summary Analysis of the in plane lateral collapse of square and rectangular cross-section tubes is presented by considering the out-of-straightness of horizontal and vertical arms, corner radius, friction between the platens and the deforming specimen and instability of vertical arms. Results of collapse load for tubes of aluminium and mild steel, thus computed, are presented for some typical tube geometrics, and influence thereon of various parameters considered is discussed. Experiments were conducted wherein tubes of square and rectangular cross-sections of both the materials were laterally compressed between two parallel platens in an Instron machine. The observed collapse loads compare very well with the corresponding computed values.

---

Kollaps von vertikal belasteten Rohren mit quadratischem und rechteckigem Querschmitt

Übersicht Der Kollaps von Rohren mit quadratischem und rechteckigem Querschnitt, welche senkrecht zur Achse belastet werden, wird untersucht, wobei schiefe Vertikal- und Horizontalstege, gerundete Profilecken, Reibung zwischen Belastungsplatten und Rohr sowie die Stabilität der Vertikalstege brücksichtigt werden. Die Kollapslast wird für Aluminium und Weichstahl und einige typische Rohrgeometrien ermittelt und der Einfluß verschiedener Parameter wird untersucht. Die Experimente wurden auf einer Instron-Maschine durchgeführt, wobei Rohre mit quadratischem und rechteckigem Querschnitt aus beiden Werkstoffen zwischen zwei parallelen Platten quer zur Achse komprimiert wurden. Es konnte eine gute Übereinstimmung zwischen den Resultaten aus Experiment und Rechnung festgestellt werden.