483 research outputs found
Laser Peening to Improve Fatigue Strength and Lifetime of Critical Components1
AbstractFatigue failure is typically driven by component geometric requirements that result in local areas of high tensile loading stress. Within this paper we discuss the deep protective stress generated by laser peening and show examples of using a newly developed finite element predictive strain and stress tool that accurately models laser peening. The analysis tool and robust process enable the accurate engineering of local compressive stress into critical areas of diverse/all(?) ferrous and non-ferrous materials in a well-defined manner that significantly improves fatigue life and strength. This capability opens the potential for advanced designs with increased performance, enhanced reliability and reduced system weight
Pathwise Sensitivity Analysis in Transient Regimes
The instantaneous relative entropy (IRE) and the corresponding instanta-
neous Fisher information matrix (IFIM) for transient stochastic processes are
pre- sented in this paper. These novel tools for sensitivity analysis of
stochastic models serve as an extension of the well known relative entropy rate
(RER) and the corre- sponding Fisher information matrix (FIM) that apply to
stationary processes. Three cases are studied here, discrete-time Markov
chains, continuous-time Markov chains and stochastic differential equations. A
biological reaction network is presented as a demonstration numerical example
The Quark-Hadron Phase Transition, QCD Lattice Calculations and Inhomogeneous Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
We review recent lattice QCD results for the surface tension at the finite
temperature quark-hadron phase transition and discuss their implications on the
possible scale of inhomogeneities. In the quenched approximation the average
distance between nucleating centers is smaller than the diffusion length of a
protron, so that inhomogeneities are washed out by the time nucleosynthesis
sets in. Consequently the baryon density fluctuations formed by a QCD phase
transition in the early universe cannot significantly affect standard big-bang
nucleosynthesis calculations and certainly cannot allow baryons to close the
universe. At present lattice results are inconclusive when dynamical fermions
are included.Comment: 8 pages, LaTe
Quantum Electronics
Contains reports on three research projects.U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)University of California, Livermore (Subcontract 7877409
Quantum Electronics
Contains research objectives and summary of research on eight projects in three sections and reports on two research projects.U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)University of California, Livermore (Subcontract No. 7877409)U. S. Army Research Office - Durham (Contract DAHC04-72-C-0044
Interference-induced gain in Autler-Townes doublet of a V-type atom in a cavity
We study the Autler-Townes spectrum of a V-type atom coupled to a
single-mode, frequency-tunable cavity field at finite termperature, with a
pre-selected polarization in the bad cavity limit, and show that, when the mean
number of thermal photons and the excited sublevel splitting is very
large (the same order as the cavity linewidth), the probe gain may occur at
either sideband of the doublet, depending on the cavity frequency, due to the
cavity-induced interference.Comment: Minor changes are mad
Metastable lifetimes in a kinetic Ising model: Dependence on field and system size
The lifetimes of metastable states in kinetic Ising ferromagnets are studied
by droplet theory and Monte Carlo simulation, in order to determine their
dependences on applied field and system size. For a wide range of fields, the
dominant field dependence is universal for local dynamics and has the form of
an exponential in the inverse field, modified by universal and nonuniversal
power-law prefactors. Quantitative droplet-theory predictions are numerically
verified, and small deviations are shown to depend nonuniversally on the
details of the dynamics. We identify four distinct field intervals in which the
field dependence and statistical properties of the lifetimes are different. The
field marking the crossover between the weak-field regime, in which the decay
is dominated by a single droplet, and the intermediate-field regime, in which
it is dominated by a finite droplet density, vanishes logarithmically with
system size. As a consequence the slow decay characteristic of the former
regime may be observable in systems that are macroscopic as far as their
equilibrium properties are concerned.Comment: 18 pages single spaced. RevTex Version 3. FSU-SCRI-94-1
Quantum Electronics
Contains reports on three research projects.U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-71-C-0300)University of California, Livermore (Subcontract No. 7877409)U. S. Army Research Office - Durham (Contract DAHC04-72-C-0044
Protein-Protein Fusion Catalyzed by Sortase A
Chimeric proteins boast widespread use in areas ranging from cell biology to drug delivery. Post-translational protein fusion using the bacterial transpeptidase sortase A provides an attractive alternative when traditional gene fusion fails. We describe use of this enzyme for in vitro protein ligation and report the successful fusion of 10 pairs of protein domains with preserved functionality — demonstrating the robust and facile nature of this reaction
Grasping the changes seen in older adults when reaching for objects of varied texture.
Old age is associated with reduced mobility of the hand. To investigate age related decline when reaching-to-lift an object we used sophisticated kinematic apparatus to record reaches carried out by healthy older and younger participants. Three objects of different widths were placed at three different distances, with objects having either a high or low friction surface (i.e. rough or slippery). Older participants showed quantitative differences to their younger counterparts - movements were slower and peak speed did not scale with object distance. There were also qualitative differences with older adults showing a greater propensity to stop the hand and adjust finger position before lifting objects. The older participants particularly struggled to lift wide slippery objects, apparently due to an inability to manipulate their grasp to provide the level of precision necessary to functionally enclose the object. These data shed light on the nature of age related changes in reaching-to-grasp movements and establish a powerful technique for exploring how different product designs will impact on prehensile behavior
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