An experimental method for considering dispersion and attenuation in a viscoelastic Hopkinson bar

An experimental method is developed to perform Hopkinson tests by means of viscoelastic bars by considering the wave propagation attenuation and dispersion due to the material rheological properties and the bar radial inertia (geometric effect). A propagation coefficient, representative of the wave dispersion and attenuation, is evaluated experimentally. Thus, the Pochhammer and Chree frequency equation is not necessary. Any bar cross-section shapes can be employed, and the knowledge of the bar mechanical properties is useless. The propagation coefficients for two PMMA bars with different diameters and for an elastic aluminum alloy bar are evaluated. These coefficients are used to determine the normal forces at the free end of a bar and at the ends of two bars held in contact. As an application, the mechanical impedance of an accelerometer is evaluated. A part of this work has been performed in the Laboratoire Matériaux Endommagement Fiabilité of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers de Bordeaux.     

Oxidation of a depleted uranium-5 wt% molybdenum (U-5Mo) alloy in UHV by AES and XPS

Early stage oxidation of a dilute-depleted uranium-molybdenum alloy was analysed in situ under ultra-high vacuum conditions by AES and XPS. At the equivalent of less than 300 ns at 1-atm O₂, U-5Mo oxidizes to form stoichiometric UO₂. No molybdenum oxidation is observed. After an oxygen dose of approximately 39 L, the oxide layer approached a limiting thickness of approximately 2.4 nm. The oxidation kinetics followed a logarithmic rate law, with the best fit to the experimental data for the oxide thickness, d, being given by d = 1.26 log(0.12t + 0.56). Changes in oxygen KLL and 1s peak positions associated with transformation from chemisorbed oxygen to metal oxide were observed at similar oxygen doses of 2.3 and 2.6 L O₂ by AES and XPS, respectively, which opens up the possibility of using well-characterized XPS chemical information to inform Auger peak shifts.     

Conception of an experimental device for measuring the in-plane shear modulus of film materials

A freely oscillating torsional pendulum was designed and built for measuring the in-plane shear modulus of film materials. To make the work easier for the experimenter, an online computer application was also developed with the help of numeric tools (Fourier and Hillbert transforms) for data acquisition and processing. The experimental part was performed on various materials. Experiments on a brass foil (isotropic material) validated measurements achieved with this experimental device. Experiments on orthotropic materials (base papers with different basis weights) gave prominence to the good reproducibility of measurements and to the ability for using this torsional pendulum. For this kind of material (large basis weight base paper), the in-plane shear modulus seemed independent of the fiber orientation.     

The split-cavity oscillator: a high-power E-beam modulator andmicrowave source

A compact device, called a split-cavity oscillator, whose self-excited oscillating electromagnetic field converts a large-area steady electron beam into one that is highly density modulated, is described. It does this in a short beam travel length, easing both space-charge and pinching limitations. Thus, high currents are possible without requiring a magnetic guide field. Methods for converting the modulated output beam into high-power microwaves are discussed, as are ways to phase-lock several oscillators together. Analytic theory, numerical simulations, and experiments describing the device are presented     

A high-statistics determination of the Λ mean lifetime

Recent determinations of the mean lifetime of the Λ hyperon have given values significantly greater than the previously accepted world average. Using 34 000 Λ → pπ^? decays in the CERN 2m. hydrogen bubble chamber, we have measured the Λ lifetime to be (2.611 ± 0.020) × 10^?10sec.     

Pomeron dominance in a triple-Regge representation of inclusive Δ++ production in K−p and π−p reactions

Data are presented on the reactions K^?p → Δ⁺⁺ + anything at 10 and 16 GeV/c and π^?p → Δ⁺⁺ + anything at 16 GeV/c. In the K^?p reaction, scaling is observed between 10 and 16 GeV/c in the variable M²/s. The scaling occurs at relatively low values of M in marked contrast to the reaction π⁺p → Δ⁺⁺ + anything. This result can be explained by duality arguments on a triple Regge picture, since the exchanged reggeon-incident particle scattering is exotic. Comparison of the π^?p reaction, which is similarly exotic, with the K^?p reaction at the same energy gives further evidence for factorization in pomeron-dominated inclusive reactions.     

Selectivity of modulation interference for consonant identification in normal-hearing listeners

The present study sought to establish whether speech recognition can be disrupted by the presence of amplitude modulation (AM) at a remote spectral region, and whether that disruption depends upon the rate of AM. The goal was to determine whether this paradigm could be used to examine which modulation frequencies in the speech envelope are most important for speech recognition. Consonant identification for a band of speech located in either the low- or high-frequency region was measured in the presence of a band of noise located in the opposite frequency region. The noise was either unmodulated or amplitude modulated by a sinusoid, a band of noise with a fixed absolute bandwidth, or a band of noise with a fixed relative bandwidth. The frequency of the modulator was 4, 16, 32, or 64 Hz. Small amounts of modulation interference were observed for all modulator types, irrespective of the location of the speech band. More important, the interference depended on modulation frequency, clearly supporting the existence of selectivity of modulation interference with speech stimuli. Overall, the results suggest a primary role of envelope fluctuations around 4 and 16 Hz without excluding the possibility of a contribution by faster rates.     

Effect of masker level on overshoot

Overshoot refers to the phenomenon where signal detectability improves for a short-duration signal as the onset of that signal is delayed relative to the onset of a longer duration masker. A popular explanation for overshoot is that it reflects short-term adaptation in auditory-nerve fibers. In this study, overshoot was measured for a 10-ms, 4-kHz signal masked by a broadband noise. In the first experiment, masker duration was 400 ms and signal onset delay was 1 or 195 ms; masker spectrum level ranged from - 10-50 dB SPL. Overshoot was negligible at the lowest masker levels, grew to about 10-15 dB at the moderate masker levels, but declined and approached 0 dB at the highest masker levels. In the second experiment, the masker duration was reduced to 100 ms, and the signal was presented with a delay of 1 or 70 ms; masker spectrum level was 10, 30, or 50 dB SPL. Overshoot was about 10 dB for the two lower masker levels, but about 0 dB at the highest masker level. The results from the second experiment suggest that the decline in overshoot at high masker levels is probably not due to auditory fatigue. It is suggested, instead, that the decline may be attributable to the neural response at high levels being dominated by those auditory-nerve fibers that do not exhibit short-term adaptation (i.e., those with low spontaneous rates and high thresholds).