D-c electric-potential method applied to thermal/mechanical fatigue crack growth

The paper describes a d-c electric potential system for measuring crack length under thermal/mechanical fatigue-crack-growth (TMFCG) test conditions. A programmable d-c current supply and precision multimeter produce reliable electric-potential readings. H.H. Johnson's formula is used to calculate crack length from electric potential for the center-crack-tensionM(T) geometry. Calibration constants for the formula are determined from an initial optical crack-length measurement. The resolution of the system is 1.0 microvolt which corresponds to a crack extension of approximately 0.002 mm for the center-crack-tension geometry using a current of 10.00 amps. Good crack-length accuracy and low data scatter are achieved by taking special precautions to minimize or eliminate errors in potential measurement due to thermal effects. Material resistivity changes are identified as the cause of short and long term changes in the measured electric potential for uncracked specimens. Crack-length accuracy is discussed in terms of short-term scatter and longterm drift.     

On the existence and bifurcation of minimal normal modes

Minimal normal modes (MNMs) are defined as non-linear normal modes which give a true minimum to Jacobi's Principle of Least Action. It is shown that for a certain class of two degree of freedom non-linear conservative systems, MNMs generically occur in pairs. The nature of both generic and non-generic bifurcations of MNMs is derived and illustrative examples are given.     

Experimental buckling of internal integral ring-stiffened cylinders

Twenty aluminum cylinders with internal, integral tee-stiffener rings were tested under combinations of axisymmetrical axial load and external lateral pressure to determine buckling characteristics. Seven geometric types were tested; the primary variables were the ratios of cylinder radius to shell thickness, stiffener spacing to shell thickness, and stiffener spacing to stiffener depth. An eighth type, which had variable stiffener spacing and depth, was tested under a lateral pressure varying linearly in the axial direction. Strain-gage data were obtained to aid in evaluation of results. The test results agree well with the theoretical work used for the design.Paper was presented at 1966 SESA Annual Meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pa., on November 6–9.     

Evolution of a fast flame behind an induction zone

It has been shown that pressure waves can have a large effect on the burning rate of flames. In this paper, the evolution of convection-driven fast flame, which is acoustically linked to a shock wave via an induction zone, is examined in detail. It is found that there is positive feedback mechanism and the asymptotic model breaks down as blow up occurs. Comparison is made between the case of a piston driving a shock wave into a combustible atmosphere with these studies of a shock wave passing through an existing premixed flame. Received 4 August 1995 / Accepted 20 March 1996     

The background oriented schlieren technique: sensitivity, accuracy, resolution and application to a three-dimensional density field

Three-dimensional density information of a double free air jet was acquired using optical tomography. The projections of the density field were measured using the background oriented schlieren method (BOS). Preceding the free jet measurements, the sensitivity, accuracy and resolution of the BOS method were investigated. The sensitivity depends mostly on the focal length of the lens used, the relative position of the object between camera and background and the smallest detectable shift in the image plane. The accuracy was found to be sufficiently high to apply a tomographic reconstruction process. The resolution is determined by the transfer function of the BOS-method. It is not constant and depends on the size of the interrogation windows used for the cross-correlation-algorithm. The reconstruction of the free jet was computed, using filtered back projection. The reconstructed 3D density field shows with good resolution the typical diamond structure of the density distribution in under-expanded free jets.     

Numerical solution of integro-differential and singular integral equations for plate bending problems

Two integral equation formulations for the determination of the vertical displacement and the bending moment around holes in an elastic plate are presented. Each formulation consists of two equations, the first one an integral equation and an integro-differential equation and the second one two singular integral equations. The equations are solved using B-splines as approximations to the unknowns and the method is applied to the case of one elliptic hole in a twisted plate.

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Zusammenfassung Zwei verschiedene Integralgleichungssysteme für die Bestimmung von die Durchbiegung und die Biegemoment in einer gelochten elastischen Platte werden entwickelt. Die eine Systeme besteht von einer Integralgleichung und einer Integro-Differentialgleichung und die andere von zwei singulären Integralgleichungen von Cauchy'schen Typus. Bei der Auflösung der Systeme werden die unbekannten mit Hilfe B-splines ausgedrückt. Beide Systeme werden benutzt in dem Fall von einer elliptischen Loch in einer uendlichen, tordierten Platte.

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An abbreviated version of this paper was included in a paper Integral equation solutions to mechanical problems. A review and an application to plate theory which will appear in the Proceedings from second national congress of theoretical and applied mechanics, Druzba, Bulgaria, 1973.     

Shear-induced aggregation and break up of fibril clusters close to the percolation concentration

To probe the behaviour of fibrillar assemblies of ovalbumin under oscillatory shear, close to the percolation concentration, c_p (7.5%), rheo-optical measurements and Fourier transform rheology were performed. Different results were found close to c_p (7.3%), compared to slightly further away from c_p (6.9 and 7.1%). For 6.9 and 7.1%, a decrease in complex viscosity, and a linear increase in birefringence, n, with increasing strain was observed, indicating deformation and orientation of the fibril clusters. For 7.3%, a decrease in complex viscosity was followed by an increase in complex viscosity with increasing strain, which coincided with a strong increase in n, dichroism, n, and the intensity of the normalized third harmonic (I₃/I₁). This regime was followed by a second decrease in complex viscosity, where n,n and I₃/I₁ decreased. In the first regime where the viscosity was decreasing with increasing strain, deformation and orientation of existing clusters takes place. At higher oscillatory shear, a larger deformation occurs and larger structures are formed, which is most likely aggregation of the clusters. Finally, at even higher strains, the clusters break up again. An increase in complex viscosity, n, n and I₃/I₁ was observed when a second strain sweep was performed 30 min after the first. This indicates that the shear-induced cluster formation and break up are not completely reversible, and the initial cluster size distribution is not recovered after cessation of flow.     

Expectation-maximization for Bayes-adaptive POMDPs

Bayes-adaptive POMDPs (BAPOMDPs) are partially observable Markov decision problems in which uncertainty in the state-transition and observation-emission probabilities can be captured by a prior distribution over the model parameters. Existing approaches to solving BAPOMDPs rely on model and trajectory sampling to guide exploration and, because of the curse of dimensionality, do not scale well when the degree of model uncertainty is large. In this paper, we begin by presenting two expectation-maximization (EM) approaches to solving BAPOMPs via finite-state controller (FSC) optimization, which at their foundation are extensions of existing EM algorithms for BAMDPs to the more general BAPOMDP setting. The first is a sampling-based EM algorithm that optimizes over a finite number of models drawn from the BAPOMDP prior, and as such is only appropriate for smaller problems with limited model uncertainty; the second approach leverages variational Bayesian methods to ensure tractability without sampling, and is most appropriate for larger domains with greater model uncertainty. Our primary novel contribution is the derivation of the constrained VB-EM algorithm, which addresses an unfavourable preference that often arises towards a certain class of policies when applying the standard VB-EM algorithm. Through an empirical study we show that the sampling-based EM algorithm is competitive with more conventional sampling-based approaches in smaller domains, and that our novel constrained VB-EM algorithm can generate quality solutions in larger domains where sampling-based approaches are no longer viable.     

Structure and Thermal Properties of Lithium Cyanate

The synthesis, structural, and thermal characterization of lithium cyanate are reported in this work. LiOCN forms crystals in the trigonal crystal system. The structure was solved in the space group R$\bar{3}$ m. It is isomorphous to the structure of sodium cyanate. In the temperature range from –90 °C up to the melting point no phase transition was observed. Furthermore the vibrational Raman spectrum was measured. The system KOCN‐LiOCN shows a dystecticum and the new phase was confirmed by powder X‐ray diffraction.     

The influence of SO2 and NO2 impurities on CO2 gas hydrate formation and stability

The sequestration of industrially emitted CO(2) in gas hydrate reservoirs has been recently discussed as an option to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas. This CO(2) contains, despite much effort to clean it, traces of impurities such as SO(2) and NO(2) . Here, we present results of a pilot study on CO(2) hydrates contaminated with 1% SO(2) or 1% NO(2) and show the impact on hydrate formation and stability. Microscopic observations show similar hydrate formation rates, but an increase in hydrate stability in the presence of SO(2). Laser Raman spectroscopy indicates a strong enrichment of SO(2) in the liquid and hydrate phase and its incorporation in both large and small cages of the hydrate lattice. NO(2) is not verifiable by laser Raman spectroscopy, only the presence of nitrate ions could be confirmed. Differential scanning calorimetry analyses show that hydrate stability and dissociation enthalpy of mixed CO(2)-SO(2) hydrates increase, but that only negligible changes arise in the presence of NO(2) impurities. X-ray diffraction data reveal the formation of sI hydrate in all experiments. The conversion rates of ice+gas to hydrate increase in the presence of SO(2), but decrease in the presence of NO(2). After hydrate dissociation, SO(2) and NO(2) dissolved in water and form strong acids.