Nonlinear Dynamics of a Helicopter Model in Ground Resonance

An approximate theoretical method is presented which determined the limit cycle behavior of a helicopter model which has one or two nonlinear dampers. The relationship during unstable ground resonance oscillations between lagging motion of the blades and fuselage motion is discussed. An experiment was carried out on using a helicopter scale model. The experimental results agree with those of the theoretical analysis

Optical properties of Si/Si0.87Ge0.13 multiple quantum well wires

Nanometer-scale wires cut into a Si/Si0.87Ge0.13 multiple quantum well structure were fabricated and characterized by using photoluminescence and photoreflectance at temperatures between 4 and 20 K. It was found that, in addition to a low-energy broadband emission at around 0.8 eV and other features normally observable in photoluminescence measurements, fabrication process induced strain relaxation and enhanced electron-hole droplets emission together with a new feature at 1.131 eV at 4 K were observed. The latter was further identified as a transition related to impurities located at the Si/Si0.87Ge0.13 heterointerfaces

Temperature Effects on Threshold Counterion Concentration to Induce Aggregation of fd Virus

We seek to determine the mechanism of like-charge attraction by measuring the temperature dependence of critical divalent counterion concentration ($\rm{C_{c}}$) for the aggregation of fd viruses. We find that an increase in temperature causes $\rm{C_c}$ to decrease, primarily due to a decrease in the dielectric constant ($\epsilon$) of the solvent. At a constant $\epsilon$, $\rm{C_c}$ is found to increase as the temperature increases. The effects of $T$ and $\epsilon$ on $\rm {C_{c}}$ can be combined to that of one parameter: Bjerrum length ($l_{B}$). $\rm{C_{c}}$ decreases exponentially as $l_{B}$ increases, suggesting that entropic effect of counterions plays an important role at the onset of bundle formation.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Surface plasmon resonance assisted rapid laser joining of glass

Rapid and strong joining of clear glass to glass containing randomly distributed embedded spherical silver nanoparticles upon nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation (∼40 ns and repetition rate of 100 kHz) at 532 nm is demonstrated. The embedded silver nanoparticles were ∼30–40 nm in diameter, contained in a thin surface layer of ∼10 μm. A joint strength of 12.5 MPa was achieved for a laser fluence of only ∼0.13 J/cm2 and scanning speed of 10 mm/s. The bonding mechanism is discussed in terms of absorption of the laser energy by nanoparticles and the transfer of the accumulated localised heat to the surrounding glass leading to the local melting and formation of a strong bond. The presented technique is scalable and overcomes a number of serious challenges for a widespread adoption of laser-assisted rapid joining of glass substrates, enabling applications in the manufacture of microelectronic devices, sensors, micro-fluidic, and medical devices

Semantic analysis of field sports video using a petri-net of audio-visual concepts

The most common approach to automatic summarisation and highlight detection in sports video is to train an automatic classifier to detect semantic highlights based on occurrences of low-level features such as action replays, excited commentators or changes in a scoreboard. We propose an alternative approach based on the detection of perception concepts (PCs) and the construction of Petri-Nets which can be used for both semantic description and event detection within sports videos. Low-level algorithms for the detection of perception concepts using visual, aural and motion characteristics are proposed, and a series of Petri-Nets composed of perception concepts is formally defined to describe video content. We call this a Perception Concept Network-Petri Net (PCN-PN) model. Using PCN-PNs, personalized high-level semantic descriptions of video highlights can be facilitated and queries on high-level semantics can be achieved. A particular strength of this framework is that we can easily build semantic detectors based on PCN-PNs to search within sports videos and locate interesting events. Experimental results based on recorded sports video data across three types of sports games (soccer, basketball and rugby), and each from multiple broadcasters, are used to illustrate the potential of this framework

The Nystrom plus Correction Method for Solving Bound State Equations in Momentum Space

A new method is presented for solving the momentum-space Schrodinger equation with a linear potential. The Lande-subtracted momentum space integral equation can be transformed into a matrix equation by the Nystrom method. The method produces only approximate eigenvalues in the cases of singular potentials such as the linear potential. The eigenvalues generated by the Nystrom method can be improved by calculating the numerical errors and adding the appropriate corrections. The end results are more accurate eigenvalues than those generated by the basis function method. The method is also shown to work for a relativistic equation such as the Thompson equation.Comment: Revtex, 21 pages, 4 tables, to be published in Physical Review

Reflection High-Energy Electron-Diffraction Study of Surface Disorder and Anomalous Expansion of Pb(100)

The temperature-dependent surface structural behavior of Pb(100) is studied using reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Anomalous surface expansion for temperatures between room temperature to about 500 K is observed. A high density of surface vacancies appears at temperatures above ~ 500 K. © 1994 The American Physical Society

On spinodal decomposition in alnico---a transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography study

Alnico is a prime example of a finely tuned nanostructure whose magnetic properties are intimately connected to magnetic annealing (MA) during spinodal transformation and subsequent lower temperature annealing (draw) cycles. Using a combination of transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography, we show how these critical processing steps affect the local composition and nanostructure evolution with impact on magnetic properties. The nearly 2-fold increase of intrinsic coercivity ($H_\text{ci}$) during the draw cycle is not adequately explained by chemical refinement of the spinodal phases. Instead, increased Fe-Co phase ($\alpha_1$) isolation, development of Cu-rich spheres/rods/blades and additional $\alpha_1$ rod precipitation that occurs during the MA and draw, likely play a key role in $H_\text{ci}$ enhancement. Chemical ordering of the Al-Ni-phase ($\alpha_2$) and formation of Ni-rich ($\alpha_3$) may also contribute. Unraveling of the subtle effect of these nano-scaled features is crucial to understanding on how to improve shape anisotropy in alnico magnets

Thermal X-Ray Pulses Resulting From Pulsar Glitches

The non-spherically symmetric transport equations and exact thermal evolution model are used to calculate the transient thermal response to pulsars. The three possible ways of energy release originated from glitches, namely the `shell', `ring' and `spot' cases are compared. The X-ray light curves resulting from the thermal response to the glitches are calculated. Only the `spot' case and the `ring' case are considered because the `shell' case does not produce significant modulative X-rays. The magnetic field ($\vec B$) effect, the relativistic light bending effect and the rotational effect on the photons being emitted in a finite region are considered. Various sets of parameters result in different evolution patterns of light curves. We find that this modulated thermal X-ray radiation resulting from glitches may provide some useful constraints on glitch models.Comment: 48 pages, 20 figures, submitted to Ap