A spiral wave front beacon for underwater navigation: basic concept and modeling

A spiral wave front source produces an acoustic field that has a phase that is proportional to the azimuthal angle about the source. The concept of a spiral wave front beacon is developed by combining this source with a reference source that has a phase that is constant with the angle. The phase difference between these sources contains information about the receiver's azimuthal angle relative to the beacon and can be used for underwater navigation. To produce the spiral wave front, two sources are considered: a "physical-spiral" source, which produces the appropriate phase by physically deforming the active element of the source into a spiral, and a "phased-spiral" source, which uses an array of active elements, each driven with the appropriate phase, to produce the spiral wave front. Using finite element techniques, the fields produced by these sources are examined in the context of the spiral wave front beacon, and the advantages of each source are discussed.     

Low-noise fiber optics receiver with super-beta bipolar transistors

A low-noise wideband optical fiber receiver has been successfully designed using super-beta bipolar transistors (BJTs) at the front end. Even with commercially available super-beta devices, which are not optimized for our application, the obtainable input sensitivity for medium- and high-bandwidth optical receivers is comparable or superior to the best FET design. To demonstrate this concept, a 10-MHz analog receiver was built with a super-beta BJT at the input stage. This receiver achieved an expected average input noise current density of less than 0.4 PA/√Hz over the full bandwidth for a transresistance of 500 kΩ. Detailed design procedures are given in this paper. The noise characteristics of a 50-MHz receiver using super-beta BJTs are also obtained.     

非线性铁氧体传输线的脉冲陡化作用

阐述了非线性铁氧体传输线的工作机理,并给出了等阻抗的设计方法。针对已有重复频率脉冲功率源输出脉冲特点,设计了工作重复频率可达10kHz的铁氧体传输线,并可实现将前沿ns级的高压脉冲陡化至几百ps。采用多种NiZn铁氧体磁芯开展陡化实验,研究了磁芯参数、铁氧体传输线长度及外加励磁场等因素对陡化效果的影响,得出采用高饱和磁化强度的磁芯可以获得更快的脉冲前沿;采用小磁芯可以加快输出脉冲前沿,但需要的铁氧体长度更长;外加轴向励磁对陡化前沿也具有促进作用,但励磁场并非越大越好,而是存在一个最佳范围。目前,根据实验结果优化后,经铁氧体传输线可将脉冲前沿从4ns陡化至450ps,且输出脉冲电压峰值39kV,基本实现了高重复频率、高功率及快脉冲输出。     

Low-noise fiber optics receiver with super-beta bipolar transistors

Abstract

A low-noise wideband optical fiber receiver has been successfully designed using super-beta bipolar transistors (BJTs) at the front end. Even with commercially available super-beta devices, which are not optimized for our application, the obtainable input sensitivity for medium- and high-bandwidth optical receivers is comparable or superior to the best FET design. To demonstrate this concept, a 10-MHz analog receiver was built with a super-beta BJT at the input stage. This receiver achieved an expected average input noise current density of less than 0.4 PA/√Hz over the full bandwidth for a transresistance of 500 kΩ. Detailed design procedures are given in this paper. The noise characteristics of a 50-MHz receiver using super-beta BJTs are also obtained.     

Hydrophobization of epoxy nanocomposite surface with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane for superhydrophobic properties

Nature inspires the design of synthetic materials with superhydrophobic properties, which can be used for applications ranging from self-cleaning surfaces to microfluidic devices. Their water repellent properties are due to hierarchical (micrometer- and nanometre-scale) surface morphological structures, either made of hydrophobic substances or hydrophobized by appropriate surface treatment. In this work, the efficiency of two surface treatment procedures, with a hydrophobic fluoropolymer, synthesized and deposited from 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) is investigated. The procedures involved reactions from the gas and liquid phases of the PFOTS/hexane solutions. The hierarchical structure is created in an epoxy nanocomposite surface, by filling the resin with alumina nanoparticles and micron-sized glass beads and subsequent sandblasting with corundum microparticles. The chemical structure of the deposited fluoropolymer was examined using XPS spectroscopy. The topography of the modified surfaces was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The hydrophobic properties of the modified surfaces were investigated by water contact and sliding angles measurements. The surfaces exhibited water contact angles of above 150° for both modification procedures, however only the gas phase modification provided the non-sticking behaviour of water droplets (sliding angle of 3°). The discrepancy is attributed to extra surface roughness provided by the latter procedure.     

铸造锌铝合金稀土变质机理的电子理论研究

根据分子动力学理论建立了液态锌铝合金ZA27的模型，结合计算机编程构造出了ZA27合金α 相与液相共存时的原子结构模型，利用递归方法计算了稀土固溶于晶粒内和富集于结晶前沿 时的电子结构.由此得出：稀土处于相界区比在晶内更稳定，从而解释了稀土在α相内溶解 度很小，结晶时富集于结晶前沿液体中的事实；稀土处于液态和晶态的结构能差相对于铝较 大解释了稀土在相界前的富集使α晶枝产生熔断、游离、增殖的观点.原子间的键级积分计 算也表明，稀土处于结晶前沿液体中与铝相比不容易结晶到晶体表面，起到阻碍晶粒长大， 细化晶粒的作用，这就从电子层次解释了稀土的变质机理. 关键词： 电子结构 液固相界原子结构模型 稀土变质机理     

电磁波在相对论稀薄电离波面上的反射角和透射角

对电磁波与相对论稀薄电离波面相互作用产生的反射角和透射角进行了研究，首先在波面参考系中根据电磁波在固定边界上的相位匹配条件，确定电磁波在静止电离波面上的反射角和透射角，并利用波矢量和频率和相对论变换，导出了在实验室参考系中相应的反射角和透射角的表达式，最后对所得的结果作了进一步的讨论。     

Generalized method for wave-front analysis

We suggest and demonstrate a new method for wave-front analysis based on common-path phase-shift interferometry. We introduce a formalism and an iterative mathematical algorithm in which the wave front is transformed, modified, and inversely transformed. The resulting intensity data are sufficient to reconstruct the entire wave front. In a more restricted case, in which the wave-front modifications are arbitrarily applied over arbitrary spatial regions of the wave front, the wave front is reconstructed semianalytically by use of a model that allows a local solution, followed by an iterative algorithm. Measurement results indicating that the suggested approach has an improved measurement accuracy with respect to existing quantitative phase measurement methods are presented.     

Electron microscopic investigations of the layer, Island, and dendrite polymorphic crystallizations of amorphous films

The structural and morphological features of the crystallization of thin amorphous films, which proceeds without changes in the composition, are investigated via the transmission electron microscopy and electronography methods. It is demonstrated that classification based on several structural and morphological features is reasonable and three (layer, island, and dendrite) types of polymorphic crystallizations can be distinguished. It is shown, that layer polymorphic crystallization enables us to interpret crystallization-line motion to the amorphous phase by analogy with the propagation of a light-wave front according to the Huygens principle.     

Evaporation of an emulsion trapped in a yield stress fluid

The present work deals with emulsions of volatile alkanes in an aqueous clay suspension, Laponite, which forms a yield stress fluid. For a large enough yield stress (i.e. Laponite concentration), the oil droplets are prevented from creaming and the emulsions are thus mechanically stabilized. We have studied the evaporation kinetics of the oil phase of those emulsions in contact with the atmosphere. We show that the evaporation process is characterized by the formation of a sharp front separating the emulsion from a droplet-free Laponite phase, and that the displacement of the front vs. time follows a diffusion law. Experimental data are confronted to a diffusion-controlled model, in the case where the limiting step is the diffusion of the dissolved oil through the aqueous phase. The nature of the alkane, as well as its volume fraction in the emulsion, has been varied. Quantitative agreement with the model is achieved without any adjustable parameter and we describe the mechanism leading to the formation of a front.     

Subwavelength beam manipulation via multiple-metal slits coupled by disk-shaped nanocavity

A novel plasmonic structure consisting of three nano-scaled slits coupled by nano-disk-shaped nanocavities is pro- posed to produce subwavelength focusing and beam bending at optical frequencies. The incident light passes through the metal slits in the form of surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） ,and then scatters into radiation fields. Numerical simulations using finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method show that the transmitted fields through the design example can gener- ate light focusing and deflection by altering the refractive index of the coupled nanocavity. The simulation results indicate that the focal spot is beyond the diffraction limit. Light impinges on the surface at an angle to the optical axis will add an extra planar phase front that interferes with the asymmetric phase front of the plasmonic lens, leading to a larger bending angle off the axial direction. The advantages of the proposed plasmonic lens are smaller device size and ease of fabrication. Such geometries offer the potential to be controlled by using nano-positior!i0g systems for applications in dynamic beam shaping and scanning on the nanoscale.     

Phase compensation of laser beam modes: II. Optimization techniques

Phase compensation can lead to a significant improvement in the intensity characteristics of high order laser beam modes. Optimal design procedures for phase compensation structures are described, and the behaviour of the higher order spatial harmonics is considered in detail. The effects of possible phase errors are also derived analytically.     

Scanning acoustic Doppler microscopy and scanning acoustic correlation microscopy

Acoustic microscopy with vector contrast at 100 MHz in a fluid with immersed particles is used to detect the flow profile in front of a microscopic orifice. The velocity profile concerning the component in axial direction of the focused beam is derived from the phase contrast. Possibilities to resolve the flow profile also for the components in normal direction with respect to the axis are demonstrated. The methods concerning measurement techniques and data evaluation for scanning acoustic Doppler microscopy are presented. For scanning acoustic correlation microscopy the time dependent phase and amplitude signals resulting from sound waves scattered by the immersed particles (aluminium flakes with a typical diameter of 10 microm) have been analysed by correlation procedures. From the obtained autocorrelation functions the velocity distribution can be derived. Both methods can be applied simultaneously. Data analysis is based on the information contained in the originally obtained images in vector contrast derived from temporal and spatial resolved analogue and digital processing of the acoustic signals.     

The effect of phase change materials on the frontal polymerization of a triacrylate

The production of smoke and fumes is a major obstacle to the practical use of thermal frontal polymerization. The front temperature and the amount of smoking can be reduced by adding inert fillers, such as clay and silica, to the reactive mixture. Here we investigate the possibility of incorporating inert materials that melt (so-called phase change materials) to the mixture. By performing both experiments and mathematical modeling, we demonstrate that, in addition to the standard parameters of frontal polymerization, the front temperature and velocity depend on the melting point and heat of fusion of the phase change material. We use the method of matched asymptotic expansions to develop an explicit expression for the velocity of the reaction front. The expression demonstrates that the behavior of the front is determined by the difference between the reaction temperature and the melting temperature, with the front being slower and cooler if melting occurs farther ahead of the reaction front. The theoretical trends are hard to confirm directly because different characteristics of the phase change material cannot be varied separately.     

Optimization of an off-axis nozzle for assist gas injection in laser fusion cutting

The aerodynamic features of the gas flow during laser fusion cutting are an essential factor influencing the cut performance. For this reason it has been a subject of some studies to explain the interactions of the gas jet with the workpiece and to design different gas injection systems with the aim of preventing the drawbacks of the conventional cutting heads.An off-axis cutting head with a de Laval nozzle to inject a supersonic gas jet has been previously demonstrated to be an effective design to achieve a complete removal of the molten material from the cutting front and to avoid the formation of the recast layer. In the present work, the fundamentals and procedures to adjust the main factors determining the efficiency of this gas injection system are described. Specifically, the gas flow inside the cut kerf is analysed by means of flow visualization using the Schlieren technique.     

Acoustic propagation from a spiral wave front source in an ocean environment

A spiral wave front source generates a pressure field that has a phase that depends linearly on the azimuthal angle at which it is measured. This differs from a point source that has a phase that is constant with direction. The spiral wave front source has been developed for use in navigation; however, very little work has been done to model this source in an ocean environment. To this end, the spiral wave front analogue of the acoustic point source is developed and is shown to be related to the point source through a simple transformation. This makes it possible to transform the point source solution in a particular ocean environment into the solution for a spiral source in the same environment. Applications of this transformation are presented for a spiral source near the ocean surface and seafloor as well as for the more general case of propagation in a horizontally stratified waveguide.     

Influence of the benthic front on the mode structure of acoustic field in the ocean

The characteristic features of the mode structure of low-frequency sound field in the ocean are investigated for the ocean regions containing the benthic front, which represents the boundary between the Antarctic bottom water and the deep water. The hydrographic characteristics of the benthic front are described with the use of the data of the international WOCE experiment. On the basis of mathematical simulation, the changes introduced by the benthic front into the phase and group velocities and the vertical structure of modes are estimated for a frequency range of 5–20 Hz. Possible ways of reconstructing the hydrographic characteristics of the benthic front by the mode tomography methods are considered.     

A hybrid level set method for modelling detonation and combustion problems in complex geometries

We present an accurate and fast wave tracking method that uses parametric representations of tracked fronts, combined with modifications of level set methods that use narrow bands. Our strategy generates accurate computations of the front curvature and other geometric properties of the front. We introduce data structures that can store discrete representations of the location of the moving fronts and boundaries, as well as the corresponding level set fields, that are designed to reduce computational overhead and memory storage. We present an algorithm we call stack sweeping to efficiently sort and store data that is used to represent orientable fronts. Our implementation features two reciprocal procedures, a forward ‘front parameterization’ that constructs a parameterization of a front given a level set field and a backward ‘field construction’ that constructs an approximation of the signed normal distance to the front, given a parameterized representation of the front. These reciprocal procedures are used to achieve and maintain high spatial accuracy. Close to the front, precise computation of the normal distance is carried out by requiring that displacement vectors from grid points to the front be along a normal direction. For front curves in two dimensions, a cubic interpolation scheme is used, and G ¹ surface parameterization based on triangular patches is used for the three-dimensional implementation to compute the distances from grid points near the front. To demonstrate this new, high accuracy method we present validations and show examples of combustion-like applications that include detonation shock dynamics, material interface motions in a compressible multi-material simulation and the Stephan problem associated with dendrite solidification.     

Interactions between a cavitation bubble and solidification front under the effects of ultrasound: Experiments and lattice Boltzmann modeling

The phenomena of melting and dendritic fragmentation are captured by using an in-situ device during the ultrasound-assisted solidification of a succinonitrile-acetone (SCN-ACE) alloy. The experimental results show that the dendrite arms detach from primary trunk due to the melting of the solid phase, which is caused by a moving ultrasound cavitation bubble. To quantify the interactions between the ultrasound cavitation bubble and the solidification front, a coupled lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is developed for describing the fields of temperature, flow, and solid fraction, and their interactions. The multi-relaxation-time (MRT) scheme is applied in the LB model to calculate the liquid-gas flow field, while the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) equation is executed to simulate the evolution of temperature. The kinetics of solidification and melting are calculated according to the lever rule based on the SCN-ACE phase diagram. After the validation of the LB model by an analytical model, the morphologies of the cavitation bubble and solidification front are simulated. It is revealed that the solidification interface melts due to the increase of the temperature nearby the cavitation bubble in ultrasonic field. The simulated morphologies of the cavitation bubble and solidification front are compared well with the experimental micrograph. Quantitative investigations are carried out for analyzing the melting rate of the solidification front under different conditions. The simulated data obtained from LB modeling and theoretical predictions reasonably accord with the experimental results, demonstrating that the larger the ultrasonic intensity, the faster the melting rate. The present study not only reveals the evolution of the solidification front shape caused by the cavitation bubbles, which is invisible in the ultrasound-assisted solidification process of practical alloys, but also reproduces the complex interactions among the temperature field, acoustic streaming, and multi-phase flows.     

Structural and phase changes in metals during formation of the fatigue fracture surface in metals and alloys

The mechanisms of deformation-induced structural and phase changes, which accompany crack nucleation and growth during fatigue fracture of metals and alloys, are considered. It is shown that the crack steady growth phase is determined by the processes of local melting of the material in extension phase, and melt crystallization processes with formation of shrinkage pores in front of the crack tip in the unloading phases and crack narrowing.