5,901 research outputs found
Feasibility study of a 110 watt per kilogram lightweight solar array system
An investigation of the feasibility of a solar array panel subsystem which will produce 10,000 watts of electrical output at 1 A.U. with an overall beginning-of-life power-to-weight ratio of at least 110 watt/kg is reported. A description of the current baseline configuration which meets these requirements is presented. A parametric analysis of the single boom, two blanket planar solar array system was performed to arrive at the optimum system aspect ratio. A novel concept for the stiffening of a lightweight solar array by canting the solar cell blankets at a small angle to take advantage of the inherent in-plane stiffness to increase the symmetric out-of-plane frequency is introduced along with a preliminary analysis of the stiffening effect. A comparison of welded and soldered solar cell interconnections leads to the conclusion that welding is required on this ultralightweight solar array. The use of a boron/aluminum composite material in a BI-STEM type deployable boom is investigated as a possible advancement in the state-of-the-art
Graphene field-effect transistors based on boron nitride gate dielectrics
Graphene field-effect transistors are fabricated utilizing single-crystal
hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an insulating isomorph of graphene, as the gate
dielectric. The devices exhibit mobility values exceeding 10,000 cm2/V-sec and
current saturation down to 500 nm channel lengths with intrinsic
transconductance values above 400 mS/mm. The work demonstrates the favorable
properties of using h-BN as a gate dielectric for graphene FETs.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
From daily movements to population distributions: weather affects competitive ability in a guild of soaring birds
The ability of many animals to access and exploit food is dependent on the ability to move. In the case of scavenging birds, which use soaring flight to locate and exploit ephemeral resources, the cost and speed of movement vary with meteorological factors. These factors are likely to modify the nature of interspecific interactions, as well as individual movement capacity, although the former are less well understood. We used aeronautical models to examine how soaring performance varies with weather within a guild of scavenging birds and the consequences this has for access to a common resource. Birds could be divided broadly into those with low wing loading that are more competitive in conditions with weak updraughts and low winds (black vultures and caracaras), and those with high wing loading that are well adapted for soaring in strong updraughts and moderate to high winds (Andean condors). Spatial trends in meteorological factors seem to confine scavengers with high wing loading to the mountains where theyout-compete other birds; a trend that is borne out in worldwide distributions of the largest species. However, model predictions and carcass observations suggest that the competitive ability of these and other birds varies with meteorological conditions in areas where distributions overlap. This challenges the view that scavenging guilds are structured by fixed patterns of dominance and suggests that competitive ability varies across spatial and temporal scales, which may ultimately be a mechanism promoting diversity among aerial scavengers.Fil: Shepard, Emily L. C.. Swansea University; Reino UnidoFil: Lambertucci, Sergio Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentin
Space suit
A pressure suit for high altitude flights, particularly space missions is reported. The suit is designed for astronauts in the Apollo space program and may be worn both inside and outside a space vehicle, as well as on the lunar surface. It comprises an integrated assembly of inner comfort liner, intermediate pressure garment, and outer thermal protective garment with removable helmet, and gloves. The pressure garment comprises an inner convoluted sealing bladder and outer fabric restraint to which are attached a plurality of cable restraint assemblies. It provides versitility in combination with improved sealing and increased mobility for internal pressures suitable for life support in the near vacuum of outer space
Electronic compressibility of layer polarized bilayer graphene
We report on a capacitance study of dual gated bilayer graphene. The measured
capacitance allows us to probe the electronic compressibility as a function of
carrier density, temperature, and applied perpendicular electrical displacement
D. As a band gap is induced with increasing D, the compressibility minimum at
charge neutrality becomes deeper but remains finite, suggesting the presence of
localized states within the energy gap. Temperature dependent capacitance
measurements show that compressibility is sensitive to the intrinsic band gap.
For large displacements, an additional peak appears in the compressibility as a
function of density, corresponding to the presence of a 1-dimensional van Hove
singularity (vHs) at the band edge arising from the quartic bilayer graphene
band structure. For D > 0, the additional peak is observed only for electrons,
while D < 0 the peak appears only for holes. This asymmetry that can be
understood in terms of the finite interlayer separation and may be useful as a
direct probe of the layer polarization
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