A comparison of different discrimination parameters for the DFT-based PSD method in fast scintillators

Although the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) based pulse shape discrimination (PSD) method, realized by transforming the digitized scintillation pulses into frequency coefficients by using DFT, has been proven to effectively discriminate neutrons and γ rays, its discrimination performance depends strongly on the selection of the discrimination parameter obtained by the combination of these frequency coefficients. In order to thoroughly understand and apply the DFT-based PSD in organic scintillation detectors, a comparison of three different discrimination parameters, i.e. the amplitude of zero-frequency component, the amplitude difference between the amplitude of zero-frequency component and the amplitude of base-frequency component, and the ratio of the amplitude of base-frequency component to the amplitude of zero-frequency component, is described in this paper. An experimental setup consisting of an Americium–Beryllium (Am–Be) source, a BC501A liquid scintillator detector, and a 5Gsample/s 8-bit oscilloscope was built to assess the performance of the DFT-based PSD with each of these discrimination parameters in terms of the figure-of-merit (based on the separation of the event distributions). The third technique, which uses the ratio of the amplitude of base-frequency component to the amplitude of zero-frequency component as the discrimination parameter, is observed to provide the best discrimination performance in this research.     

Sensitivity and Hessian matrix analysis of power spectral density functions for uniformly modulated evolutionary random seismic responses

This paper describes a numerical method for calculation of the sensitivity and Hessian matrix of the response PSD functions of structures subjected to uniformly modulated evolutionary random seismic excitation. The method is formulated based on the pseudo excitation method and Newmark method. The evolutionary non-stationary random response analysis is converted into step-by-step integration computations using the pseudo excitation method. The formulas of the pseudo responses, their first and second derivatives with respect to the structural design variables are derived based on the Newmark method. The PSD functions, their sensitivity and Hessian matrix are calculated using the pseudo responses, their first and second derivatives, respectively. Then the computation procedure of sensitivity and Hessian matrix of PSD functions is given in detail. Finally, the PSD functions’ sensitivity and Hessian matrix analysis of a three-story, two-bay planar frame subjected to the uniformly modulated evolutionary random earthquake ground motion has been studied to elucidate the proposed method.     

General method for determining the sensor readings of motion measurement systems by using skew-ray tracing method

High-accuracy laser-based optoelectronic motion- and position-measuring systems typically utilize light rays that travel from one optical boundary surface to another to perform motion and/or position measurements. It is not a simple task to accurately determine the equations of these sensor readings in terms of positional/angular motions. This problem is addressed in this paper by application of the analytic skew-ray tracing methodology as computed by the finite-difference methodology. An illustrative example of a motion-measurement system and comparison of the position-sensing detector (PSD) readings are given to validate the proposed methodology. It is shown that the proposed methodology can provide accurate expressions of PSD readings. It is also shown that the performance of a corner-cube retro-reflector is better than a cat's eye retro-reflector in positional/angular motion measurement systems.     

光敏层电阻率非均匀分布对PSD定位影响的研究

采用数值方法对光敏层电阻率的非均匀分布及对位置敏感探测器(PSD)的影响进行了研究,结果显示,在现有的制作工艺保障最大电阻率变化不超过1%时,电阻率的非均匀分布对四边形PSD的非线性影响很小,相比较之下,其对一维PSD的影响要大的多。因此,光敏层电阻率的非均匀分布是造成一维PSD非线性的一个主要原因,而对于四边形二维PSD则不是主要原因。     

PSD位置响应特性与光源照射方式的关系研究

推导出在四边形二维PSD光源静止照射和连续扫描照射下的位置响应特性理论解,比较两种光源照射方式下引起相对位置变化,讨论了光源扫描速度对探测光入射位置信息的影响,得出结论:在两种光源照射方式下,二维PSD探测光入射位置存在严重的非线性,但是响应时间比一维PSD短。光源扫描速度越小,2DPSD探测到的位置误差越小,并且光生电势分布的最大值越小。     

Output-only identification and dynamic analysis of time-varying mechanical structures under random excitation: A comparative assessment of parametric methods

This article addresses the problem of parametric time-domain identification and dynamic analysis for time-varying (TV) mechanical structures under unobservable random excitation. The methods presented are based on time-dependent autoregressive moving average (TARMA) models, and are classified according to the mathematical structure imposed on the TV parameter evolution as unstructured parameter evolution, stochastic parameter evolution, and deterministic parameter evolution. The features and relative merits of each class are outlined. A representative method from each is then assessed through its application to the identification and dynamic analysis of a laboratory TV structure consisting of a beam with a mass moving on it. The results are mutually compared and contrasted to those obtained through “frozen-configuration” (multiple experiment) baseline identification.     

Fragmentation of pulverized coal in a laminar drop tube reactor: Experiments and model

Fragmentation during pulverized coal particles conversion shifts the particle size distribution of the fuel towards smaller particle sizes, affecting both conversion rates and heat release. After pyrolysis of a high volatiles Colombian coal in CO₂ atmosphere in a drop tube reactor at 1573?K, solid carbonaceous particles of different size, from 100?µm of the particle feed down to the nanometric size, have been observed. A fragmentation model has been used to predict the fate of Colombian coal particles under the experimental conditions of the drop tube experiment and predict the particle size distribution (PSD). Model and experimental results are in very good agreement and indicate that in the DTR experiment the coal underwent almost complete pyrolysis and that fragmentation generated a 36?wt% population of particles with size close to 30?µm. The close match between the PSDs obtained from experiments and from the fragmentation model is an important novelty. It demonstrates that fragmentation occurs not only under fluidized bed conditions but also under the conditions of pulverized coal combustion. Experimentalists are warned against the fact that the fine particulate sampled at the outlet of laminar flow reactors and boilers is not always composed of soot only. Char fragments can be misidentified as soot. The implementation of fragmentation submodels in pulverized fuel combustion and gasification codes is highly recommended.     

考虑参数不确定性的非线性梁随机振动分析

非线性系统的随机振动分析一直是结构动力学领域中的难点,已有一些研究表明基于矩等效的线性化方法在功率谱预测上会得到不恰当的分析结果;另一方面,由于不确定性在实际工程中普遍存在,如果同时考虑非线性和不确定性,更是显著增加了问题难度。本文以具有非线性非理想边界梁为研究对象,基于梁模型的动力学微分方程推导了对应的广义频响函数,并应用Volterra级数理论建立了非线性系统随机振动的谱分析方法,最后,结合蒙特卡洛抽样方法计算了具有参数不确定性非线性梁响应功率谱的均值和方差,讨论了不确定性对结构随机振动响应统计特征的影响。     

MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Study of the Phosphorylated Tau Peptides

Fragmentation of phosphorylated Tau peptides in matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) has been investigated.According to the post-source decay (PSD) in MALDI-TOF-MS, there are two different patterns of cleavage in phosphopeptides, which can be used to determine the phosphorylated site in peptides.In the synthetic tau peptides, the fragmentation at proline residue occurs strongly and this is useful to determine the structure of tau peptides.