On the correct determination of rotational angles for twisted-profiled sweep objects

In the context of the paper of V. Akman and A. Arslan, "Sweeping with All Graphical Ingredients in a Topological Picturebook" [Computers & Graphics, Vol. 16(3), pp. 273-281, 1992], a new construction of the rotational matrix is presented. This fixes a bug discovered by the first author. © 1994

Next generation cricket bowling machine

Cricket is a traditional team sport played in over 100 countries around the world. Unlike many mainstream sports, cricket has seen little research and development within the equipment used to play the game. Ball launching machines have been used as a training aid in a number of sports including cricket, however, as with the playing equipment used, these too have seen little development. Current cricket bowling machines enable players to train at a high intensity producing repeatable deliveries for batsmen to hone their skills. A need has been established by the coaching staff of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for a cricket training system that provides batsmen with a match realistic environment in which to train. Existing cricket bowling machines do not offer batsmen pre-release visual information that they would receive in a match situation and the most popular models release moulded, dimpled balls that do not replicate the performance of cricket balls.... cont'd

Critical flow velocity in super fluid 3He-B

The experiments detailed within this thesis have measured the distortion of the superfluid energy gap in high magnetic field and the dissipation for an object in uniform linear motion through superfluid 3He-B. The latter experiments led to an astonishing discovery of no discontinuity in the dissipation for an object in uniform linear motion at the Landau critical velocity. The experiments were performed in a “Lancaster style” nested experimental cell at ultra-low temperatures within the ballistic limit. In the first set of experiments we studied two almost identical quartz tuning fork resonators with different vibration directions with respect to the vertical magnetic field. One vibrated along the field direction and the other vibrated in the horizontal plane. Our measurements have shown that the critical velocity for the vertical fork decreases significantly with increasing field, dropping to almost 60% of its original value as the highest field is approached. However, there is very little change of the critical velocity for the horizontal fork. Our data shows good agreement with theoretical predictions and previous experiments using vibrating wires. During measurements at high magnetic fields, 300 mT to 330 mT, we observed discontinuities in the velocity response for very small changes in driving force. This behaviour might be due to vortex generation around the vibrating object and a subsequent shielding effect, previously observed in the response of a large vibrating wire (with diameter of 100 µm, similar to a typical fork dimension). Intriguingly the detailed behaviour also appears to depend on the orientation of the tuning fork with respect to the magnetic field direction. The second set of experiments used a novel measurement tool referred to as the “flopper”. The idea behind the development of the flopper was to have a low frequency device with low Q-factor that could be moved in an arbitrary fashion. The flopper is a large 25 × 9 mm goalpost-shaped NbTi vibrating wire. With AC current the wire can be driven at its resonance frequency or by using a DC linear stroke it can be moved over a controlled distance within the cell. By adding a high frequency “probe” signal on top of the DC signal we calibrated the position of the flopper with respect to the cell. We performed DC strokes of the flopper over short distances within the cell at various velocities. This led to us discovering that the dissipation of uniform linear motion at velocities exceeding the Landau velocity did not show any discontinuity. Since the critical Landau velocity is so fundamental in the understanding of superfluidity, this was a considerable surprise. The comparisons between AC and DC motion led to the development of a model to describe the dissipation processes in 3He-B

A w-band quasi-optical mode converter and gyro-BWO experiment

High power coherent microwave sources at shorter wavelengths (mm and sub-mm) are in great demand, especially in the fields of plasma physics, remote sensing and imaging and for electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Gyro-devices are by their nature particularly suited to this type of application due to the fast-wave cyclotron resonance maser instability, which is capable of producing high power radiation at frequencies that prove challenging for other sources. A W-band gyro-device based on a cusp electron beam source with a helically corrugated interaction region is currently under development to provide a continuously tuneable source over the range between 90 GHz to 100 GHz with a CW power output of ~10 kW. The work presented herein encompasses the design, construction and measurement of a prototype output launcher for this gyro-device. A corrugated mode converting horn was designed to act as a quasi-optical mode converter that converts the fundamental operating mode within the gyro-TWA (TE11) to a hybrid mode, which is closely coupled to the fundamental free space Gaussian mode (TEM00). This free space mode allows the possibility for the inclusion of an energy recovery system that can recover a percentage of the energy from the spent electron beam and is predicted to increase overall efficiency by up to 40%. For this scheme the electron beam must be decoupled from the radiation, which can pass through the collector system and vacuum window unperturbed while the electrons are collected at the energy recovery system. This type of corrugated mode converting horn was chosen due to the advantages of a greater bandwidth and the capability to provide a source that is continuously tuneable over this bandwidth. The results of the design and integration of this corrugated mode converting horn with the gyro-device are presented. The prototype operates over a continuously tuneable bandwidth of 90 to 100 GHz with a return loss better than -35 dB and a Gaussian coupling efficiency of 97.8%. The far field radiation pattern shows a highly symmetrical structure with 99.9% of the power radiated within a cone with a half angle of less than 19° and a cross-polar level less than -40 dB.High power coherent microwave sources at shorter wavelengths (mm and sub-mm) are in great demand, especially in the fields of plasma physics, remote sensing and imaging and for electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Gyro-devices are by their nature particularly suited to this type of application due to the fast-wave cyclotron resonance maser instability, which is capable of producing high power radiation at frequencies that prove challenging for other sources. A W-band gyro-device based on a cusp electron beam source with a helically corrugated interaction region is currently under development to provide a continuously tuneable source over the range between 90 GHz to 100 GHz with a CW power output of ~10 kW. The work presented herein encompasses the design, construction and measurement of a prototype output launcher for this gyro-device. A corrugated mode converting horn was designed to act as a quasi-optical mode converter that converts the fundamental operating mode within the gyro-TWA (TE11) to a hybrid mode, which is closely coupled to the fundamental free space Gaussian mode (TEM00). This free space mode allows the possibility for the inclusion of an energy recovery system that can recover a percentage of the energy from the spent electron beam and is predicted to increase overall efficiency by up to 40%. For this scheme the electron beam must be decoupled from the radiation, which can pass through the collector system and vacuum window unperturbed while the electrons are collected at the energy recovery system. This type of corrugated mode converting horn was chosen due to the advantages of a greater bandwidth and the capability to provide a source that is continuously tuneable over this bandwidth. The results of the design and integration of this corrugated mode converting horn with the gyro-device are presented. The prototype operates over a continuously tuneable bandwidth of 90 to 100 GHz with a return loss better than -35 dB and a Gaussian coupling efficiency of 97.8%. The far field radiation pattern shows a highly symmetrical structure with 99.9% of the power radiated within a cone with a half angle of less than 19° and a cross-polar level less than -40 dB

Effort reduction and collision avoidance for powered wheelchairs : SCAD assistive mobility system

The new research described in this dissertation created systems and methods to assist wheelchair users and provide them with new realistic and interesting driving opportunities. The work also created and applied novel effort reduction and collision avoidance systems and some new electronic interactive devices. A Scanning Collision Avoidance Device (SCAD) was created that attached to standard powered wheelchairs to help prevent children from driving into things. Initially, mechanical bumpers were used but they made many wheelchairs unwieldy, so a novel system that rotated a single ultra-sonic transducer was created. The SCAD provided wheelchair guidance and assisted with steering. Optical side object detectors were included to cover blind spots and also assist with doorway navigation. A steering lockout mode was also included for training, which stopped the wheelchair from driving towards a detected object. Some drivers did not have sufficient manual dexterity to operate a reverse control. A reverse turn manoeuvring mode was added that applied a sequential reverse and turn function, enabling a driver to escape from a confined situation by operating a single turn control. A new generation of Proportional SCAD was created that operated with proportional control inputs rather than switches and new systems were created to reduce veer, including effort reduction systems. New variable switches were created that provided variable speed control in place of standard digital switches and all that research reduced the number of control actions required by a driver. Finally, some new systems were created to motivate individuals to try new activities. These included a track guided train and an adventure playground that including new interactive systems. The research was initially inspired by the needs of young people at Chailey Heritage, the novel systems provided new and more autonomous driving opportunities for many powered wheelchair users in less structured environments.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The effect of extensional flow on shear viscosity

Shear rheology is conventionally studied under pure shearing flows, rather than more realistic mixed flows. Moving parallel surfaces and capillary rheometery are examples of the former, whilst the latter occurs whenever a flow accelerates or decelerates creating an additional component of extension, e.g. on passing through an industrial extrusion die. We postulate and gather supporting evidence that shear rheology is a function of not only shear, but both shear and extension rate, a factor with important consequences for fibre spinning and extrusion operations. The direction, as well as rate, of extensional deformation is important. A novel two-phase flow, planar extension experiment is developed and the surface coatings necessary to control the interface structure identified. Shear viscosity evolution is monitored, in-situ, under extensional flow, by optically measuring shear rates either side of a test fluid – reference fluid interface; issues due to optical refraction are critically addressed. Preliminary evidence is shown for a 1.2wt% 4x10^6 MW PEO solution that parallel (+ve) extensional flow, on the order of 11.5s-1 , causes a reduction in shear viscosity, and perpendicular (-ve) causes an increase in shear viscosity, supporting the hypothesis. A framework for a comparison experiment, with the same shear history but without extension, is presented. As part of this work, design criteria for planar hyperbolic extensional channels are critically assessed. In particular, expanding a hyperbola entrance region would maximise total Hencky strain, yet this region is almost never given rationalised consideration in literature. In this region the basis for the hyperbolic profile breaks down, and a new profiling strategy and channel form are presented, which is found to only differ significantly in this inlet region. A useful design limit of 130 degrees on channel inlet angle is identified. The new profile is compared to a hyperbolic profile through the use of CFD for wall slip flow, and a slight improvement in extension rate uniformity along the centreline found. Deviations are contrasted against assumptions made in the profiling strategy: comments are made with regards the possibility for “internal” shear to occur, and non-uniform extension rates are accordingly found to exist between streamlines in these channels despite the use of full wall slip in the simulations

Aeronautical Engineering: A special bibliography with indexes, supplement 74

This special bibliography lists 295 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in August 1976

MARE-WINT: New Materials and Reliability in Offshore Wind Turbine Technology

renewable; green; energy; environment; law; polic

Aeronautical engineering: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography

This bibliography is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in NASA SP-7037(210) through NASA SP-7037(221) of Aeronautical Engineering: A Continuing Bibliography. NASA SP-7037 and its supplements have been compiled through the cooperative efforts of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This cumulative index includes subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number indexes

Third International Conference on Inverse Design Concepts and Optimization in Engineering Sciences (ICIDES-3)

Papers from the Third International Conference on Inverse Design Concepts and Optimization in Engineering Sciences (ICIDES) are presented. The papers discuss current research in the general field of inverse, semi-inverse, and direct design and optimization in engineering sciences. The rapid growth of this relatively new field is due to the availability of faster and larger computing machines