Mid-infrared laser light nulling experiment using single-mode conductive waveguides

Aims: In the context of space interferometry missions devoted to the search of exo-Earths, this paper investigates the capabilities of new single mode conductive waveguides at providing modal filtering in an infrared and monochromatic nulling experiment; Methods: A Michelson laser interferometer with a co-axial beam combination scheme at 10.6 microns is used. After introducing a Pi phase shift using a translating mirror, dynamic and static measurements of the nulling ratio are performed in the two cases where modal filtering is implemented and suppressed. No additional active control of the wavefront errors is involved. Results: We achieve on average a statistical nulling ratio of 2.5e-4 with a 1-sigma upper limit of 6e-4, while a best null of 5.6e-5 is obtained in static mode. At the moment, the impact of external vibrations limits our ability to maintain the null to 10 to 20 seconds.; Conclusions: A positive effect of SM conductive waveguide on modal filtering has been observed in this study. Further improvement of the null should be possible with proper mechanical isolation of the setup.Comment: Accepted in A&A, 7 pages, 5 figure

Bridges Structural Health Monitoring and Deterioration Detection Synthesis of Knowledge and Technology

INE/AUTC 10.0

Conservation Pakage for Modal Ecorace

Conserving biodiversity is about genetic variety, species, habitats and ecosystems. All are important, but it is often most appropriate, practical and effective to focus on species. With modern conservation awareness, there is a welcome and popular commitment to maintaining the diversity of species in India. Nevertheless, over the last 50 years, we have witnessed the severe decline of many once widespread and familiar species, such as tropical Tasar silkworm Antherea mylitta D. Conservation is not just about avoiding extinctions, but about restoring or recovering species populations to secure levels and preventing other species from reaching such a perilous situation in the first place. Species, by their very nature, have specific ecological requirements. They may appear to share the same habitat with many others but each has a different, specific niche. It is what sets them apart, and makes them what they are. Habitat loss has historically been a factor in species decline. However, the way existing habitats are managed is also important

Sustainable inland transportation

Inland navigation is often mentioned as a ‘green’ alternative for the two other main inland transport modes: rail and road transport. In order to investigate the opportunities for inland navigation we first analyze the competitive position of inland navigation vis-àvis the other main inland transport modes. For that, we perform a comparative study on the current sustainability performance of the three modes. Second, through a case study, we analyze a recent initiative for sustainable innovation of inland navigation in order to assess the barriers and opportunities for improving the competitive position of sustainable inland navigation

IMACLIM-R: a modelling framework to simulate sustainable development pathways

To assess the sustainability of future development pathways requires models to compute long-run Economy-Energy-Environment scenarios. This paper presents the IMACLIM-R framework, aimed at investigating climate, energy and development inter-related issues. The model was built in an attempt to address three methodological challenges: to incoporate knowledge from economics and engineering sciences, to support the dialogue with and between stakeholders, to produce scenarios with a strong consistency, concerning especially the interplay between development patterns, technology and growth. These goals led to the development of a recursive structure articulating a static general equilibrium framework including innovative features and sectorspecific dynamic modules now concerning energy, transportation and industry. This paper provides the general rationale of the model and the description of all its components.

Evolutionary urban transportation planning? An exploration

For urban transportation planners these are challenging times. Mounting practical concerns are mirrored by more fundamental critiques. The latter come together in the observation that conventional approaches do not adequately account for the irreducible uncertainty of future developments. The central aim of this paper is to explore if and how an evolutionary approach can help overcome this limit. Two core-hypotheses are formulated. The first is that the urban transportation system behaves in an evolutionary fashion. The second hypothesis is that because of this, urban transportation planning needs also to focus on enhancing the resilience and adaptability of the system. Changes in transport and land use development patterns and policies and in the broader context in the post-war period in the Amsterdam region are analysed in order to illustrate the two core-hypotheses. In the conclusions more general implications are drawn.evolutionary economics, urban economics, transportation planning

Smart FRP Composite Sandwich Bridge Decks in Cold Regions

INE/AUTC 12.0

Acoustic mode measurements in the inlet of a model turbofan using a continuously rotating rake: Data collection/analysis techniques

The rotating microphone measurement technique and data analysis procedures are documented which are used to determine circumferential and radial acoustic mode content in the inlet of the Advanced Ducted Propeller (ADP) model. Circumferential acoustic mode levels were measured at a series of radial locations using the Doppler frequency shift produced by a rotating inlet microphone probe. Radial mode content was then computed using a least squares curve fit with the measured radial distribution for each circumferential mode. The rotating microphone technique is superior to fixed-probe techniques because it results in minimal interference with the acoustic modes generated by rotor-stator interaction. This effort represents the first experimental implementation of a measuring technique developed by T. G. Sofrin. Testing was performed in the NASA Lewis Low Speed Anechoic Wind Tunnel at a simulated takeoff condition of Mach 0.2. The design is included of the data analysis software and the performance of the rotating rake apparatus. The effect of experiment errors is also discussed