Environmental plutonium: Reference states and alpha coefficients

The results of plutonium oxidation state distribution calculations do not depend on special attention to any oxidation state as has been incorrectly supposed in some literature sources. Experimentally determined alpha coefficients for natural water could make the distribution of environmental plutonium easy to estimate with a programmable pocket calculator.Mound is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by EG&G Mound Applied Technologies, Inc., under Contract No. DE-AC04-88DP43495.     

Pretransitional electro-optic response of 6CB liquid crystal in the isotropic phase

In this work, the electro-optic response of a 6CB liquid crystal layer is studied using a sensitive differential technique. The layer is held at a temperature just above the nematic to isotropic phase transition. Transverse magnetic (p) polarized light incident on the cell is coupled to guided modes in the liquid crystal layer using prism coupling. The modes manifest themselves as sharp dips in the reflectivity as the angle of incidence is scanned. When a low frequency sinusoidal voltage is applied to the cell, the resonant mode shapes and excitation angles are altered at a frequency which is twice that of the applied field, resulting in a modulation of the reflectivity for a given angle of incidence. By synchronous observation of the modulated signal, a differential signal is recorded. Comparing the data with modelling generated from multilayer optics theory, two effects are then quantified. The first of these is an induced birefringence, varying quadratically with applied voltage, which is well understood and can be expressed in terms of Landau-de Gennes theory. The second is a field induced perturbation in the imaginary part of the optical permittivity, δε_i, which implies a modification of the light scattering properties of the liquid crystal. The measurement of the latter effect is, as far as we know, a novel one, being only made possible by the remarkable sensitivity of the synchronous differential technique.     

Kinetic model for hydrocarbon-assisted particulate boron combustion

A kinetic model is presented to describe the high temperature (1800 K < T < 3000 K) surface oxidation of particulate boron in a hydrocarbon combustion environment. The model includes a homogeneous gas-phase B/O/H/C oxidation mechanism consisting of 19 chemical species and 58 forward and reverse elementary reactions, multi-component gas-phase diffusion, and a heterogeneous surface oxidation mechanism consisting of ‘elementary’ adsorption and desorption reaction steps. Thermochemical and kinetic parameters for the surface reactions are estimated from available experimental data and/or elementary transition state arguments. The kinetic processes are treated using a generalized kinetics code, with embedded sensitivity analysis, for the combustion of a one-dimensional (particle radius), spherical particle. Model results are presented for the oxidation of a 200 μm boron particle in a JP-4/air mixture at ambient temperatures of 1400 K and 2000 K. These results include temperature and gas-phase species profiles as a function of radial distance and particle burning rates. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Gas-phase thermal decomposition of peroxy-N-butyryl nitrate

The gas-phase thermal decomposition rate of peroxy-n-butyryl nitrate (n-C₃H₇C(O)OONO₂, PnBN) has been measured at ambient temperature (296 K) and 1 atm of air relative to that of peroxyacetyl nitrate (CH₃C(O)OONO₂, PAN) using mixtures of PAN (14–19 ppb), PnBN (22–46 ppb), and nitric oxide (1.35–1.90 ppm). The PnBN/PAN decomposition rate ratio was 0.773 ± 0.030. This ratio, together with a literature value of 3.0 × 10^?4 s^?1 for the thermal decomposition rate of PAN at 296 K, yields a PnBN thermal decomposition rate of (2.32 ± 0.09) × 10^?4 s^?1. The results are briefly discussed by comparison with data for other peroxyacyl nitrates and with respect to the atmospheric persistence of PnBN. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

General base catalysis in the decomposition of N-Cl-Valine in aqueous solution

This article analyzes the kinetics of the decomposition of N-Cl-Valine in aqueous solution, which is formed rapidly by chlorination of Valine with sodium hypochlorite. A general-base catalyzed process not yet described is reported. The experimental evidence shows two competitive decomposition paths: an unimolecular concerted fragmentation process (k = (1.8 ± 0.1) · 10^?4 s^?1 at 298 K) and the other one is an E2 elimination process whose importance increases with pH and depends on the nature and the concentration of the bases present in the medium. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Thermoelectric properties of tin clathrates under hydrostatic pressure

We report the temperature dependence of electrical resistance (R) and thermopower (S) of clathrate Cs₈Sn₄₄ under high pressure up to 1.2 GPa. We observe a reversible gap widening, prominent relaxation effect of R, irreversible increase of |S| under high pressure. We also find that the power factor S²σ (σ: electrical conductivity) reaches a maximum at pressure of 0.3 GPa. Comparison of the experimental results with band structure calculations suggests that the intrinsic vacancy in the clathrate structure of Cs₈Sn₄₄ plays an important role in transport properties under high pressure. Measurements on Cs₈Zn₄Sn₄₂, a clathrate which has defects other than vacancies, are compared with Cs₈Sn₄₄. The results indicate that replacing Sn by Zn has similar effect as the intrinsic vacancy on S.     

Temperature-dependent behavior of birefringence and rotation of the optical indicatrix in crystals of deuterated triglycinesulfate

On the basis of a complex null-polarimetric method, the natural birefringence and the rotation of the optical indicatrix in crystals of deuterated triglycinesulfate are measured in the temperature range of 300–340 K. The temperature-dependent behavior of the optical parameters is shown to be close to that observed previously in triglycinesulfate crystals. Changes in them upon the ferroelectric phase transition can be accounted for by the spontaneous quadratic electro-optic effect, with the values of the electro-optic coefficients being larger by a factor of 1.4 than in triglycinesulfate crystals.     

Triangles of Minimal Perimeter Circumscribed about a Convex n-Gon

An algorithm for finding a circumscribed triangle of the minimal perimeter is suggested. Properties of such a triangle are described. Bibliography: 1 title.     

LOCALIZED FAMILIES OF BENDING WAVES IN A THIN MEDIUM-LENGTH CYLINDRICAL SHELL UNDER PRESSURE

The initial-boundary-value problem for the equations describing motion of a thin, medium-length, non-circular cylindrical shell is examined. The shell edges are not necessarily plane curves, with the conditions of a joint support, a rigid clamp or a free edge being considered as the boundary conditions. The shell is supposed to experience normal internal (or external) dynamic pressure which may be non-uniform in the circumferential direction. It is assumed that the initial displacements and velocities of the points at the shell middle surface are functions decreasing rapidly away from some generatrix. Using the complex WKB method the asymptotic solution of the governing equations is constructed by superimposing localized families (wave packets) of bending waves running in the circumferential direction. The dependence of frequencies, group velocities, amplitudes and other dynamic characteristics upon variable pressure and geometrical parameters of the shell are studied. As an example, the wave forms of motion of a circular cylindrical shell with sloping edges under growing dynamic pressure are considered. The effect of localization of bending vibrations near the longest generator as well as the effects of reflection, focusing and increasing amplitude in the running wave packets are revealed.