On ultrafast magnetic flux dendrite propagation into thin superconducting films

We suggest a new theoretical approach describing the velocity of magnetic flux dendrite penetration into thin superconducting films. The key assumptions for this approach are based upon experimental observations. We treat a dendrite tip motion as a propagating flux jump instability. Two different regimes of dendrite propagation are found. A fast initial stage is followed by a slow stage, which sets in as soon as a dendrite enters into the vortex-free region. We find that the dendrite velocity is inversely proportional to the sample thickness. The theoretical results and experimental data obtained by a magneto-optic pump-probe technique are compared and excellent agreement between the calculations and measurements is found.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance system. Volume 2 - Requirements studies Final report

Operational requirements and cost effectiveness of commercial air transport hazard warning and avoidance syste

Study of Chromium-Frit-Type Coatings for High-Temperature Protection of Molybdenum

The achievement of more compact and efficient power plants for aircraft is dependent, among other factors, on the perfection of heat-resisting materials that are superior to those in current use. Molybdenum is one of the high-melting metals (melting point, 4750 F). It is fairly abundant and also can be worked into many of the shapes required in modern power plants. To permit its widespread use at elevated temperatures, however, some means must first be found to prevent its rapid oxidation. The application of a protective coating is one method that might be used to achieve this goal. In the present work, a number of chromium-frit-type coatings were studied. These were bonded to molybdenum specimens by firing in controlled atmospheres to temperatures in the range of 2400 to 2700 F

Twist-four Corrections to Parity-Violating Electron-Deuteron Scattering

Parity violating electron-deuteron scattering can potentially provide a clean access to electroweak couplings that are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. However hadronic effects can contaminate their extraction from high-precision measurements. Power-suppressed contributions are one of the main sources of uncertainties along with charge-symmetry violating effects in leading-twist parton densities. In this work we calculate the twist-four correlation functions contributing to the left-right polarization asymmetry making use of nucleon multiparton light-cone wave functions.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Korrelation von Elastizitätsmodul und Ermüdungsschädigung von Straßenbeton

Gegenstand dieser Dissertation ist die Etablierung des Elastizitätsmoduls als Parameter, der qualitative Aussagen über den Schädigungszustand des Baustoffs Straßenbeton ermöglicht. Zu diesem Zweck erfolgte eine systematische Ermüdung von labormaßstäblichen Betonprobekörpern bei zeitgleicher Messung des Elastizitätsmoduls mit Hilfe von unterschiedlichen Verfahren. Im ersten Schritt wurde ein Versuchsprogramm entwickelt, mit dem Probekörper mittels des Spaltzug-Schwellversuchs gezielt in einen definierten Ermüdungszustand versetzt werden können. Hierfür wurde der Parameter des Grenz-Elastizitätsmoduls definiert, welcher, wenn er unterschritten wird, zum Pausieren des Versuchs führt. In diesen systematisch eingehaltenen Lastpausen erfolgten begleitende Untersuchungen der Ultraschalllaufzeit und der Eigenfrequenz zur Bestimmung des Elastizitätsmoduls der Probekörper während des Ermüdungsvorganges. Es zeigt sich zwischen den Ergebnissen aller untersuchten Verfahren eine sehr gute Synchronität hinsichtlich des qualitativen ermüdungsbedingten Verlaufs des Elastizitätsmoduls. Die vier angewandten Verfahren, die sich voneinander unabhängiger physikalischer Phänomene bedienen, ermöglichen neben einer qualitativen Aussage über die Schädigung des Materials die Bestimmung von Absolutwerten des Elastizitätsmoduls. Je nach verwendetem Verfahren weichen die absoluten Elastizitätsmoduln leicht voneinander ab. Der Elastizitätsmodul bestätigt sich als geeigneter Parameter zur Beschreibung der Degradation des Baustoffs Straßenbeton im Zuge des Ermüdungsprozesses. Im zweiten Schritt wurden der Einfluss längerer Lastpausen sowie die Verminderung der Betonfestigkeit im Zuge der Materialermüdung tiefergehend untersucht. Es wurde festgestellt, dass längere Lastpausen in der zyklischen Belastung einen signifikanten Einfluss auf den ermüdungsbedingten Verlauf des Elastizitätsmoduls haben können. Weiterhin legen die Untersuchungen nahe, dass es im Zuge einer starken Ermüdung zu einer zum Teil signifikanten Verminderung der Festigkeit kommt. Als Resultat der Untersuchungen konnten sowohl ein Verfahren zur Bestimmung charakteristischer Verläufe für die Verminderung des Elastizitätsmoduls als auch ein Verfahren zur Abschätzung der materialspezifischen Verminderung der Festigkeit im Zuge der Ermüdung entwickelt werden. Diese Verfahren könnten zukünftig den Regelwerken der RSO Beton und der RDO Beton zugeführt werden, um die ermüdungsbedingte zeitliche Entwicklung des Elastizitätsmoduls und der Festigkeit in den durch die Regelwerke festgeschriebenen Prognose- und Dimensionierungsprozessen zu berücksichtigen. Durch die Einbeziehung zeitlich veränderlicher Werte im Prognoseverfahren, welches als Grundlage für die RSO Beton dienen soll, wird in dieser Dissertation exemplarisch gezeigt, dass die Berücksichtigung der Auswirkungen der Betonermüdung auf diese für die Prognose und die Dimensionierung von Betonfahrbahnbefestigungen sehr relevanten Parameter zur signifikanten Erhöhung der Ausfallrate gegenüber der Verwendung konstanter Werte führen kann.The subject of this doctoral dissertation is the establishment of the elastic modulus as a parameter that enables qualitative statements about the state of damage of the concrete pavement building material. For this purpose, a systematic fatigue of laboratory-scale concrete specimens was carried out with simultaneous measurement of the elastic modulus by means of different methods. In the first step, a test program was developed for the targeted and systematic fatigue of concrete specimens by means of the cyclic indirect tensile test. For this purpose, a limit value for the elastic modulus was defined. When the elastic modulus fell below the limit, the test was paused to perform accompanying investigations of the ultrasonic transit time and the natural frequency in order to determine the change of the elastic modulus of the specimens during the fatigue process. There is a very good synchronicity between the results of all investigated methods for the qualitative determination of the elastic modulus. The four methods applied, which make use of physical phenomena that are independent of each other, allow, in addition to a qualitative statement about the damage to the material, the determination of absolute values of the elastic modulus. Although there are slight differences between the methods for the determination of the elastic modulus, it is confirmed as a suitable parameter for describing the degradation of the concrete pavement building material in the course of the fatigue process. In the second step, the influence of longer loading pauses and the reduction of concrete strength due to material fatigue were investigated in more detail. It was found that longer loading pauses during cyclic loading can have a significant influence on the fatigue-related course of the elastic modulus. Furthermore, the investigations suggest that in the course of severe fatigue there is a sometimes significant reduction in strength. As a result of the investigations, both a method for determining characteristic curves for the reduction of the elastic modulus and a method for estimating the material-specific reduction of strength in the course of fatigue could be developed. In the future, these methods could be implemented into the RSO Beton and RDO Beton regulations in order to take into account the fatigue-related temporal development of the elastic modulus and the strength in the forecasting and dimensioning processes specified by the regulations. By including time-varying values in the forecasting procedure, which is to serve as the basis for the RSO Beton, this doctoral dissertation exemplifies that the consideration of the effects of concrete fatigue on these very relevant parameters for the forecasting and dimensioning of concrete pavements, can lead to the significant increase of the failure rate compared to the use of constant values

On the Equation of State of Nuclear Matter in 158A GeV Pb+Pb Collisions

Within a hydrodynamical approach we investigate the sensitivity of single inclusive momentum spectra of hadrons in 158A GeV Pb+Pb collisions to three different equations of state of nuclear matter. Two of the equations of state are based on lattice QCD results and include a phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma. The third equation of state has been extracted from the microscopic transport code RQMD under the assumption of complete local thermalization. All three equations of state provide reasonable fits to data taken by the NA44 and NA49 Collaborations. The initial conditions before the evolution of the fireballs and the space-time evolution pictures differ dramatically for the three equations of state when the same freeze-out temperature is used in all calculations. However, the softest of the equations of state results in transverse mass spectra that are too steep in the central rapidity region. We conclude that the transverse particle momenta are determined by the effective softness of the equation of state during the fireball expansion.Comment: 4 pages, including 4 figures and 2 tables. For a PostScript file of the manuscript, you can also goto http://t2.lanl.gov/schlei/eprint.htm

Parallel Unsmoothed Aggregation Algebraic Multigrid Algorithms on GPUs

We design and implement a parallel algebraic multigrid method for isotropic graph Laplacian problems on multicore Graphical Processing Units (GPUs). The proposed AMG method is based on the aggregation framework. The setup phase of the algorithm uses a parallel maximal independent set algorithm in forming aggregates and the resulting coarse level hierarchy is then used in a K-cycle iteration solve phase with a $\ell^1$-Jacobi smoother. Numerical tests of a parallel implementation of the method for graphics processors are presented to demonstrate its effectiveness.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure