On the dynamic behaviour of a flexible beam carrying a moving mass

The behaviour of a system containing a mass traveling on a cantilever beam is considered. The mass is induced to move by an applied force as opposed to the case which has been considered in most literature where the position of the moving mass is assumed to be known and independent of the motion of the beam. Furthermore, the system to be discussed has the unique characteristic that the motions of the mass and the beam are coupled. The mathematical model of the system includes two coupled nonlinear integral/partial differential equations which are impossible to solve analytically and are difficult to solve numerically in their original form. As a remedy, the solution is discretized into space and time functions and the equations of motion are reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations. The shape function is chosen so that it satisfies the boundary conditions of the beam as well as the transient conditions imposed by the traveling mass. This choice of the shape function, which considers the mass-beam interaction, provides an improvement over the conventional method of using a simple cantilever beam mode shapes.The ordinary differential equations of motion using the improved shaped functions, are solved numerically to obtain the dynamic behaviour of the system. The results illustrate the validity of the model, and demonstrate the advantages of the improved model to the un-improved equations.     

Comparison of transfers for natural radionuclides (238U, 234Th, 226Ra, 210Pb & 210Po) from five different soils to four different barley genotypes

Transfer Factors (Fv) of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁴Th, ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb from five different agricultural soils in semi-arid region (Syria) to four different barley genotypes were studied in an agricultural potted experiment. The geometric mean of the Fv values were (0.08) for ²¹⁰Pb, and (0.02) for ²¹⁰Po, while it ranged from 0.18 to 0.42 ,from 0.08 to 0.15 and from 0.22 to 0.4 for ²³⁸U, ²³⁴Th and ²²⁶Ra, respectevily. The Fv values of ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra were within the recommended global medians, while the Fv values of ²³⁴Th, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po were higher. There is no clear relationship between the soil properties and Fv of all studied radionuclides to barley genotypes. Moreover, the expression of glutathione (GSH) gene, which is belived to be involoved in heavy metal removal was generally low in all studied varieties grown in all soil types.

     

The scheme of QND meter of microwave quadrature amplitude

 We propose a new scheme of QND measurement in microwave band. It is shown that with deflection of electron beam in the electric field of a microwave resonator it is possible to measure quadrature amplitude of oscillations with the precision substantially exceeding the standard quantum limit. Estimates for the parameters of the experimental setup are presented. Received: 27 March 1996/Revised version: 5 August 1996     

Facile Synthesis of Three‐Dimensional Pt‐TiO2 Nano‐networks: A Highly Active Catalyst for the Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia–Borane

Three‐dimensional (3D) porous metal and metal oxide nanostructures have received considerable interest because organization of inorganic materials into 3D nanomaterials holds extraordinary properties such as low density, high porosity, and high surface area. Supramolecular self‐assembled peptide nanostructures were exploited as an organic template for catalytic 3D Pt‐TiO₂ nano‐network fabrication. A 3D peptide nanofiber aerogel was conformally coated with TiO₂ by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with angstrom‐level thickness precision. The 3D peptide‐TiO₂ nano‐network was further decorated with highly monodisperse Pt nanoparticles by using ozone‐assisted ALD. The 3D TiO₂ nano‐network decorated with Pt nanoparticles shows superior catalytic activity in hydrolysis of ammonia–borane, generating three equivalents of H₂.