Obturator and detonation experiments in the subdetonative ram accelerator

An experimental investigation has been undertaken to improve understanding of the role of the obturator and detonations in the subdetonative ram accelerator starting process. Ram accelerator start experiments were conducted with various obturator geometries to determine the obturator dynamics and assess its effect on the outcome of a start attempt. The obturator rapidly decelerates upon entrance and then moves backwards. Reversal of direction occurs more rapidly after propellant ignition, for less massive obturators, and solid geometries. Perforated geometries and decreasing obturator mass are less conducive to igniting a given propellant, as evidenced by the flowfield and start attempt outcome data presented. Wave unstarts were observed to occur with and without detonations, indicating more than one mechanism responsible for this type of start failure. Piston-initiated detonation experiments were conducted by firing the obturators without the ram accelerator projectile. The piston experiments identified the detonation limits for a wide range of propellants, but were found to not always be indicative of the upper Mach number at which a ram accelerator can be successfully started. In some instances a successful start or wave fall-off would occur at Mach numbers above which a piston alone detonated the propellant. Thus, the projectile can play a mitigating role in detonation initiation and use of piston detonation limits to quantitatively define a detonation wave unstart limit was not realized. Received 6 April 1998 / Accepted 15 January 1999     

Kinetics of fiber heat treatment. III Poly(butylene terephthalate) fibers

Small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS), shrinkage, and density experiments were performed on poly(butylene terephthalate) fibers which had been isothermally crystallized at different temperatures, and at constant tension, for times ranging from 100 to 1050 ms. A consistent correlation among WAXS, SAXS, and the kinetic results is demonstrated. Shrinkage results show that the crystallization process prevails over the chain-re-coiling process. Density measurements show that the rate of crystallization increases with temperature. Pinhole X-ray photos show that the orientation of the chains within the crystals remains constant with time and temperature. WAXS diffractometer scans show the development of wide-angle Bragg peaks. SAXS shows the development of small-angle Bragg peaks, as the annealing time is increased. The two-lobe arced pattern is the characteristic pattern. The value for long spacing ranged from 100 to 120 Å, increasing with temperature.     

RHEED investigation of thin tin films on polypropylene

Thin layers of (25–1000 Å) tin were evaporated onto a highly oriented polypropylene sheet. Two rates of deposition were used: 5 and 20 Å/s. For the more rapid deposition rate, a preferred orientation of tin was found in all cases. Here, the Sn a axis lay parallel to the polymer chain (polymer c axis). The same orientation relationship was found for the slower deposition rate, but only at lower Sn film thicknesses; at the higher film thicknesses, a random orientation of crystallites is found. Scanning electron micrographs show an equiaxed tin grain structure for the case of no preferred orientation and a platelet morphology for the case of preferred orientation, the thin dimension of the platelets lying perpendicular to the polymer chain axis. Although no clearcut evidence either for or against crystallographic epitaxy has been found, a plausible case for geometrical epitaxy is presented.     

Efficient calculation of temperature dependence of solid-phase free energies by overlap sampling coupled with harmonically targeted perturbation

We examine a method for computing the change in free energy with temperature of a crystalline solid. In the method, the free-energy difference between nearby temperatures is calculated via overlap-sampling free-energy perturbation with Bennett's optimization. Coupled to this is a harmonically targeted perturbation that displaces the atoms in a manner consistent with the temperature change, such that for a harmonic system, the free-energy difference would be recovered with no error. A series of such perturbations can be assembled to bridge larger gaps in temperature. We test this harmonically targeted temperature perturbation (HTTP) method through the application to the inverse-power soft potential, u(r)=ε(σ/r)(n), over a range of temperatures up to the melting condition. Three exponent values (n=12, 9, and 6) for the potential are studied with different crystal structures, specifically face-centered cubic (fcc), body-centered cubic (bcc), and hexagonal close packing. Absolute free energies (classical only) for each system are obtained by implementing the series to near-zero temperature, where the harmonic model becomes very accurate. The HTTP method is shown to provide very precise results, with errors in the free energy smaller than two parts in 10(5). An analysis of the thermodynamic stability of the various structures in the infinite-system limit confirms previous findings. In particular, for n=12 and 9, the fcc structure is stable for all temperatures up to melting, and for n=6, the bcc crystal becomes stable relative to fcc for temperatures above kT/ε=0.802±0.001. The effects of vacancies and other defects are not considered in the analysis.     

Ketene functionalized polyethylene: control of cross-link density and material properties

The functionalization and cross-linking of polyethylene is synthetically challenging, commonly relying on highly optimized radical based postpolymerization strategies. To address these difficulties, a norbornene monomer containing Meldrum's acid is shown to be effectively copolymerized with polyethylene using a nickel α-iminocarbaxamidato complex, providing high-melting, semicrystalline polymers with a tunable incorporation of the functional comonomer. Upon heating the copolymer to common polyethylene processing temperatures, the thermolysis of Meldrum's acid to ketene provides the desired reactive group. This simple and versatile methodology does not require small molecule radical sources or catalysts, and the dimerization of the in situ generated ketenes is shown to provide tunable cross-linking densities in polyethylene. Subsequent rheological and tensile experiments illustrate the ability to tune cross-linked polyethylene properties by comonomer incorporation and elucidate valuable structure/property relationships in these materials. This study illustrates the power of well-defined and synthetically accessible functional groups in polyolefin synthesis and functionalization.     

Total synthesis of clathculins A and B

Clathculins A and B represent a new class of vic-diamine alkaloids containing a PA2 unit as the basic structure. We report the first total syntheses of 1 and 2, which confirm the assigned structure of each. Dependence of their NMR spectroscopic behavior as a function of protonation state has been observed.