10,635 research outputs found
Mechanical characteristics of carbon fibre yacht masts
This paper provides a preliminary stress analysis of a carbon reinforced layered cylinder such as would be found in a yacht mast. The cylinder is subjected to a compressive load and both an analytical and numerical analysis of the resulting stress fields is obtained. Some conclusions are obtained regarding the failure mode for particular examples of such cylinders
Squeaky Wheel Optimization
We describe a general approach to optimization which we term `Squeaky Wheel'
Optimization (SWO). In SWO, a greedy algorithm is used to construct a solution
which is then analyzed to find the trouble spots, i.e., those elements, that,
if improved, are likely to improve the objective function score. The results of
the analysis are used to generate new priorities that determine the order in
which the greedy algorithm constructs the next solution. This
Construct/Analyze/Prioritize cycle continues until some limit is reached, or an
acceptable solution is found. SWO can be viewed as operating on two search
spaces: solutions and prioritizations. Successive solutions are only indirectly
related, via the re-prioritization that results from analyzing the prior
solution. Similarly, successive prioritizations are generated by constructing
and analyzing solutions. This `coupled search' has some interesting properties,
which we discuss. We report encouraging experimental results on two domains,
scheduling problems that arise in fiber-optic cable manufacturing, and graph
coloring problems. The fact that these domains are very different supports our
claim that SWO is a general technique for optimization
Preparing for War: The 25th Battalion in Halifax, 1914–15
The 25th Battalion was authorized in November 1914 and recruited men from throughout Nova Scotia before departing for England in May 1915. It spent the winter and early spring of 1914–15 in Halifax, where it was based at the Armoury and on the Common. Robert Clements, a native of Yarmouth, enlisted in the battalion in November 1914 and served in it throughout the war, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Many years later he wrote an informal history of the battalion, giving a colourful account based on his personal experiences and observations. These excerpts from his soon to be published manuscript, describe the battalion’s experiences in Halifax as the men trained, coped with inadequate equipment and inexperienced officers, and prepared to go overseas
Cosmic Sculpture: A new way to visualise the Cosmic Microwave Background
3D printing presents an attractive alternative to visual representation of
physical datasets such as astronomical images that can be used for research,
outreach or teaching purposes, and is especially relevant to people with a
visual disability. We here report the use of 3D printing technology to produce
a representation of the all-sky Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) intensity
anisotropy maps produced by the Planck mission. The success of this work in
representing key features of the CMB is discussed as is the potential of this
approach for representing other astrophysical data sets. 3D printing such
datasets represents a highly complementary approach to the usual 2D projections
used in teaching and outreach work, and can also form the basis of
undergraduate projects. The CAD files used to produce the models discussed in
this paper are made available.Comment: Accepted for publication in the European Journal of Physic
Candidate High Redshift and Primeval Galaxies in Hubble Deep Field South
We present the results of colour selection of candidate high redshift
galaxies in Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) using the Lyman dropout scheme. The
HDF-S data we discuss were taken in a number of different filters extending
from the near--UV (F300W) to the infrared (F222M) in two different fields. This
allows us to select candidates with redshifts from z~3 to z~12. We find 15
candidate z~3 objects (F300W dropouts), 1 candidate z~4 object (F450W dropout)
and 16 candidate z5 objects (F606W dropouts) in the ~ 4.7 arcmin^2 WFPC-2
field, 4 candidate z~6 (optical dropouts) and 1 candidate z~8 (F110W dropout)
in the 0.84 arcmin^2 NICMOS-3 field. No F160W dropouts are found (z~12). We
compare our selection technique with existing data for HDF-North and discuss
alternative interpretations of the objects. We conclude that there are a number
of lower redshift interlopers in the selections, including one previously
identified object (Treu et al. 1998), and reject those objects most likely to
be foreground contaminants. Even after this we conclude that the F606W dropout
list is likely to still contain substantial foreground contamination. The lack
of candidate very high redshift UV-luminous galaxies supports earlier
conclusions by Lanzetta et al. (1998). We discuss the morphologies and
luminosity functions of the high redshift objects, and their cosmological
implications.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
- …