High-power dual-rod Yb:YAG laser

We describe a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser that produces 1080 W of power cw with 27.5% optical optical efficiency and 532 W Q-switched with M(2)=2.2 and 17% optical-optical efficiency. The laser uses two composite Yb:YAG rods separated by a 90 degrees quartz rotator for bifocusing compensation. A microlensed diode array end pumps each rod, using a hollow lens duct for pump delivery. By changing resonator parameters we can adjust the fundamental mode size and the output beam quality. Using a flattened Gaussian intensity profile to calculate the mode-fill efficiency and clipping losses, we compare experimental data with modeled output power versus beam quality.     

A phase-separating centrifuge for automated radioanalysis

A simple centrifuge controlled by a suitable laboratory programmer has been designed to perform automatically the purification procedures in radioanalysis which involve precipitation or solvent extraction. The mechanism of liquid-liquid phase separation depends on the intrinsic properties of the liquids; either surface tensions, or, when predictable volumes are used, the densities rather than detection of the interface level as in the manual method. The liquid-liquid phase-separating performance of 3 versions of the centrifuge having different orifice materials has been studied and data are presented which should enable the analyst to select the most appropriate version for a particular solvent extraction method.     

Modeling phase separation in nonstoichiometric silica

We have modeled the decomposition of nonstoichiometric amorphous SiOx upon annealing into silicon and stoichiometric silica, using a new method based on mapping Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations onto rate equations. The concentrations of all oxidation states of silicon are derived as a function of time and found to attain steady-state values at long times dependent on temperature T and oxygen content x. The degree of phase separation and the sizes of Si particles are predicted as a function of T and x, enabling greater control over the size of silicon quantum dots in silica matrices.     

Fermentations of pectin-rich biomass with recombinant bacteria to produce fuel ethanol

Pectin-rich residues from sugar beet processing contain significant carbohydrates and insignificant amounts of lignin. Beet pulp was evaluated for conversion toethanol using recombinant bacteria as biocatalysts. Hydrolysis of pectin-rich residues followed by ethanolic fermentations by yeasts has not been productive because galacturonic acid and arabinose are not ferm entable toethanol by these organisms. The three recombinant bacteria evaluated in this study, Escherichia coli strain KO11, Klebsiella oxytoca strain P2, and Erwinia chrysanthemi EC 16 pLOI 555, ferment carbohydrates in beet pulp with varying efficiencies. E. coli KO11 is able to convert pure galactu ronic acid to ethanol with minimal acetate production. Using an enzyme loading of 10.5 filter paper un its of cellulase, 120.4 polygalactu ronase units of pectinase, and 6.4 g of cellobiase (per gram of dry wt sugar beet pulp), with substrate addition after 24 h of fermentation, 40 g of ethanol/L was produced. Other recombinants exhibited lower ethanol yields with increases in acetate and succinate production.     

Loading Rate Effects for Flaws Undergoing Mixed-Mode I/III Fracture

Experimental Mechanics - The effect of loading rate on the fracture properties of materials had been the subject of interest for more than four decades. However, the effect of loading rates on...