System and Methods for Deploying Payloads

Embodiments of the present invention include systems for launching primary or secondary payloads or actuating other launch vehicle or payload or instrumentation devices. The system includes an adapter assembly and at least one sequencer mounted to the adapter assembly. The sequencer includes: controller boards, each of the controller boards having a controller for controlling deployment of the payloads and data files; output ports coupled to the controller boards and configured to transmit signals from the controller boards to dispensers therethrough, deployment mechanisms containing the payloads, the adapter assembly having channels for accommodating the dispensers; and a detector coupled to the controller boards and adapted to detect an external signal and, in response to the external signal, to send an initiation signal to the controller boards. The system also includes at least one power supply coupled to the sequencer and adapted to provide an electrical power to the sequencer

ADEPT Sounding Rocket One (SR-1)Flight Experiment Overview

The SR-1 flight experiment will demonstrate most of the primary end-to-end mission stages including: launch in a stowed configuration, separation and deployment in exo-atmospheric conditions, and passive ballistic re-entry of a 70-degree half-angle faceted cone geometry

Application of weight functions in nonlinear analysis of structural dynamics problems

This paper presents a weighted residual method with several weight functions for solving differential equation of motion in nonlinear structural dynamics problems. Order of variation of acceleration is assumed to be quadratic in each time step in which polynomial of displacement would contain five unknown coefficients. Five equations are required for determination of these coefficients in each time step. These equations are obtained from initial conditions, satisfying equation of motions at both ends, and weighted residual integration. In this study, four procedures are considered for weight function to be used in the weighted residual integration as; unit weight function, Petrov–Galerkin's weight function, least square weight function, and collocation weight function. Due to higher order of acceleration in the proposed method, the results indicate better and more accurate responses. Among the tested functions, the unit weighted function method demonstrated to be non-dissipative and its numerical dispersion showed to be clearly less than the common Newmark's linear acceleration method. Also critical time step duration in stability investigation for weighted function procedure showed to be larger than the critical time step duration obtained by other methods used in the nonlinear structural dynamics problems.M. Ghassemieh, A. A. Gholampour, and S. R. Massa

Procedure to predict ultimate fracture failure history for plane stress plasticity problems

A finite element solution procedure is presented to predict the load-displacement history up to ultimate fracture failure for a structural system. Incremental plasticity theory for the von Mises yield criterion and isotropic strain hardening are used to march along the uniaxial stress-strain curve of the material up to fracture. When an element fractures its strain energy is distributed into the unfractured elements using an element nodal release method. If another element fractures during this redistribution process, then unstable crack growth is said to occur, and the total load at this stage is termed the ultimate fracture failure load of the structural system. The analysis steps to automate the solution procedure are described. Numerical results obtained for a center pre-cracked panel tension specimen are reported and compared with experimental results available in the literature. © 1992

The effect of crown fabrication process on the fatigue life of the tooth-crown structure

Objective To compare the fatigue strength of lithium disilicate ceramic crowns when cemented as a compound structure, as a function of the manufacturing process and the type of ceramic variation. Method A typodont maxillary first premolar was prepared for an all-ceramic crown in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines for monolithic ceramic crowns (IPS e. max®; Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein). 60 dies were duplicated in a polymer with a Young's Modulus closely matched to dentine (Alpha die, Schütz GmbH). Three different crown fabrication techniques were used (n = 20): (i) Manually applied wax spacer and pressed-crown; (ii) digitally scanned preparation, CAD-printed wax-pattern (D76PLUS, Solidscape Inc.) and pressed-crown; (iii) digitally scanned preparation and machined-crown (CEREC-inLab® v3.6 Sirona GmbH). Resin-based cement (Variolink-II®, Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein) was employed with a standardised mechanised cementation technique to apply a controlled axial cementation pressure [Universal testing machine (Lloyd LRX®, Lloyd Materials Testing Inc)]. The samples were subjected to fatigue life testing with a cyclic impact load of 453 N for 1.25 × 106cycles at 37C⁰ and 1 Hz frequency until the point of fracture. Result There was a significant difference in the resistance to fatigue loading between the three groups. Weibull probability analysis and the α and β Weibull parameters indicate that the teeth restored with a ‘Manually-applied wax spacer and pressed-crown’ are best able to resist cyclic fatigue loading. They also have the most uniform interface geometry. Conclusion Teeth restored with IPS e. max® crowns constructed by manually applied wax spacer and pressing, have a more uniform interface and a greater structural integrity than wax CAD-printed patterns or CAD-CAM crowns