11,951 research outputs found
Thermal vortex dynamics in thin circular ferromagnetic nanodisks
The dynamics of gyrotropic vortex motion in a thin circular nanodisk of soft
ferromagnetic material is considered. The demagnetization field is calculated
using two-dimensional Green's functions for the thin film problem and fast
Fourier transforms. At zero temperature, the dynamics of the
Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation is simulated using fourth order Runge-Kutta
integration. Pure vortex initial conditions at a desired position are obtained
with a Lagrange multipliers constraint. These methods give accurate estimates
of the vortex restoring force constant and gyrotropic frequency, showing
that the vortex core motion is described by the Thiele equation to very high
precision. At finite temperature, the second order Heun algorithm is applied to
the Langevin dynamical equation with thermal noise and damping. A spontaneous
gyrotropic motion takes place without the application of an external magnetic
field, driven only by thermal fluctuations. The statistics of the vortex radial
position and rotational velocity are described with Boltzmann distributions
determined by and by a vortex gyrotropic mass ,
respectively, where is the vortex gyrovector.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figure
PLC based Structure for Management and Control of Distributed Energy Production Units
Today, the improvements in system communications have stimulated the implementation of distributed systems. These distributed systems are then usually managed by a centralized supervisory platform, commonly known as a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). This strategy reaches different fields, from agriculture, to industry, building automation, etc (Figueiredo & Botto, 2005), (Figueiredo & Sá Costa, 2007). An optimal-performance supervisory system has the objective to allocate the minimal needed power generation to the traditional power plant in order to produce the electricity at a minimal economic cost.
This paper presents a supervisory system to monitor and control energy production and consumption, in an optimized way. The developed system consists of a network of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), controlling locally the electricity production in each source, and measuring, in a real time base, the power consumption and production. The PLC network is parameterized according to the traditional Master-Slave requirements, using the PROFIBUS communication (Siemens, 2001). A SCADA system is implemented in order to supervise the entire PLC network.
This monitoring and control strategy is simulated based on the requirements of the renewable energy park that is being assembled in Évora University. This experimental park is founded by an European project (PETER) with Évora University – Portugal and Extremadura University – Spain. The PETER park is a renewable energy park that plans to include a photovoltaic unit (10 KW), a wind generator (1KW) and a biomass unit (75KW)
Influence of hydrochloric acid concentration on the demineralization of cortical bone
Although demineralized bone matrix has been considered a successful grafting material, combining both osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties, conflicting results have been published in the literature regarding its bone-inducing abilities. This may be a consequence of following different demineralization procedures that naturally result in products with different properties.
The present work examines the evaluation of the demineralization process of similar samples of human cortical bone using three different concentrations of hydrochloric acid solutions (0.6 M, 1.2 M and 2.4 M). Sample calcium content was determined (by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy) at various immersion times, allowing the construction of the corresponding kinetic profiles. Phase and chemical composition were enabled by X-Ray Diffraction Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis, respectively. Structural modifications were followed by Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy and quantified by mercury porosimetry (in terms of porosity and pore size distribution).
As expected, increasing the acid concentration led to an increase in the demineralization rate, but not in a proportional way. However, one of the most significant effects of the acid concentration was found on the sample structural features. In fact, a considerable increment in porosity was detected for the sample subjected to the highest hydrochloric acid concentration. Microscopic observations demonstrated that despite the structural deformation resultant from demineralization, the basic microstructure was preserved
Microstability analysis of pellet fuelled discharges in MAST
Reactor grade plasmas are likely to be fuelled by pellet injection. This
technique transiently perturbs the profiles, driving the density profile hollow
and flattening the edge temperature profile. After the pellet perturbation, the
density and temperature profiles relax towards their quasi-steady-state shape.
Microinstabilities influence plasma confinement and will play a role in
determining the evolution of the profiles in pellet fuelled plasmas. In this
paper we present the microstability analysis of pellet fuelled H-mode MAST
plasmas. Taking advantage of the unique capabilities of the MAST Thomson
scattering system and the possibility of synchronizing the eight lasers with
the pellet injection, we were able to measure the evolution of the post-pellet
electron density and temperature profiles with high temporal and spatial
resolution. These profiles, together with ion temperature profiles measured
using a charge exchange diagnostic, were used to produce equilibria suitable
for microstability analysis of the equilibrium changes induced by pellet
injection. This analysis, carried out using the local gyrokinetic code GS2,
reveals that the microstability properties are extremely sensitive to the rapid
and large transient excursions of the density and temperature profiles, which
also change collisionality and beta e significantly in the region most strongly
affected by the pellet ablation.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. This is an author-created, un-copyedited
version of an article submitted for publication in Plasma Physics and
Controlled Fusion. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or
omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i
Spillover and diffraction sidelobe contamination in a double-shielded experiment for mapping Galactic synchrotron emission
We have analyzed observations from a radioastronomical experiment to survey
the sky at decimetric wavelengths along with feed pattern measurements in order
to account for the level of ground contamination entering the sidelobes. A
major asset of the experiment is the use of a wire mesh fence around the
rim-halo shielded antenna with the purpose of levelling out and reducing this
source of stray radiation for zenith-centered 1-rpm circular scans. We
investigate the shielding performance of the experiment by means of a geometric
diffraction model in order to predict the level of the spillover and
diffraction sidelobes in the direction of the ground. Using 408 MHz and 1465
MHz feed measurements, the model shows how a weakly-diffracting and unshielded
antenna configuration becomes strongly-diffracting and double-shielded as
far-field diffraction effects give way to near-field ones. Due to the
asymmetric response of the feeds, the orientation of their radiation fields
with respect to the secondary must be known a priori before comparing model
predictions with observational data. By adjusting the attenuation coefficient
of the wire mesh the model is able to reproduce the amount of differential
ground pick-up observed during test measurements at 1465 MHz.Comment: 14 pages, 17 eps + 1 gif figures and 4 Tables. Accepted for
publication in A&AS. Fig.7 available at full resolution from
http://www.das.inpe.br/~tello/publications.ht
Physicochemical characterization of biomaterials commonly used in dentistry as bone substitutes--comparison with human bone
The present work focuses on the physicochemical characterization of selected mineral-based biomaterials that are frequently used in dental applications. The selected materials are commercially available as granules from different biological origins: bovine, porcine, and coralline. Natural and calcined human bone were used for comparison purposes. Besides a classical rationalization of chemical composition and crystallinity, a major emphasis was placed on the measurement of various morphostructural properties such as particle size, porosity, density, and specific surface area. Such properties are crucial to acquiring a full interpretation of the in vivo performance. The studied samples exhibited distinct particle sizes (between 200 and 1000 microm) and shapes. Mercury intrusion revealed not only that the total sample porosity varied considerably (33% for OsteoBiol, 50% for PepGen P-15, and 60% for BioOss) but also that a significant percentage of that porosity corresponded to submicron pores. Biocoral was not analyzed by this technique as it possesses larger pores than those of the porosimeter upper limit. The density values determined for the calcined samples were close to the theoretical values of hydroxyapatite. However, the values for the collagenated samples were lower, in accordance with their lower mineral content. The specific surface areas ranged from less than 1 m(2)/g (Biocoral) up to 60 m(2)/g (BioOss). The chemical and phase composition of most of the samples, the exception being Biocoral (aragonite), were hydroxyapatite based. Nonetheless, the samples exhibited different organic material content as a consequence of the distinct heat treatments that each had received
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