Nonlinear seismic analysis of a reactor structure impact between core components

The seismic analysis of the FFTF-PIOTA (Fast Flux Test Facility-Postirradiation Open Test Assembly), subjected to a horizontal DBE (Design Base Earthquake) is presented. The PIOTA is the first in a set of open test assemblies to be designed for the FFTF. Employing the direct method of transient analysis, the governing differential equations describing the motion of the system are set up directly and are implicitly integrated numerically in time. A simple lumped-nass beam model of the FFTF which includes small clearances between core components is used as a "driver" for a fine mesh model of the PIOTA. The nonlinear forces due to the impact of the core components and their effect on the PIOTA are computed

Conservation Assessment for Sword Moss (Bryoxiphidium norvegicum (S.E. Bridel) W. Mitten)

ID: 8945; issued December 31, 2002INHS Technical Report prepared for USDA, Forest Service Vienna Ranger District Shawnee National Fores

Gymnostoma tasmanianum sp nov., a fossil Casuarinaceae from the Early Oligocene of Little Rapid River, Tasmania, Australia

Int. J Plant Sci. 164(4):629–634. 2003. © 2003 by The University of ChicagoMacrofossils of Casuarinaceae from Early Oligocene sediments at Little Rapid River, Tasmania, are assigned to a new species, Gymnostoma tasmanianum. This is only the second species of fossil Gymnostoma to be formally described and the first species of Gymnostoma to be described from Tasmania. The species is known from both vegetative and reproductive organs. The new taxon is distinguished from other known species by its small stomata, short article length and tooth width, small length:width ratio of articles, glabrous articles, stomata in two to five rows, and teeth elongate with acute apices and sinuses. The fossil record shows that Gymnostoma once had a much wider distribution in Australia than its current occurrence in far north Queensland.Greg Guerin and Robert S. Hil

Leaf cuticular morphology links Platanaceae and Proteaceae

Int. J. Plant Sci. 166(5):843–855. © 2005 by The University of Chicago.The leaf cuticular morphology of extant species of Platanus was investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. All species are shown to possess trichome bases of the same type as those commonly found in Proteaceae. Of particular significance are compound forms that consist of an annular surface scar associated with more than one underlying epidermal cell. These are found on the adaxial leaf surfaces of all species of Platanus and are also clearly evident on the abaxial surface of Platanus orientalis. This type of trichome base is therefore interpreted as the first detected nonreproductive morphological synapomorphy linking Proteaceae and Platanaceae. Also, the laterocytic, sometimes paracytic, or anomocytic arrangement of subsidiary cells in Platanus is distinct from the general state in Proteaceae, which is brachyparacytic and presumably derived. In Bellendena, possibly the most basal genus of extant Proteaceae, subsidiary cell arrangements resemble those of Platanus. These results are discussed with respect to leaf fossil records of Proteales, where it is concluded that the combination of brachyparacytic stomata and compound trichome bases is strong evidence for Proteaceae.Raymond J. Carpenter, Robert S. Hill, and Gregory J. Jorda

A modern control theory based algorithm for control of the NASA/JPL 70-meter antenna axis servos

A digital computer-based state variable controller was designed and applied to the 70-m antenna axis servos. The general equations and structure of the algorithm and provisions for alternate position error feedback modes to accommodate intertarget slew, encoder referenced tracking, and precision tracking modes are descibed. Development of the discrete time domain control model and computation of estimator and control gain parameters based on closed loop pole placement criteria are discussed. The new algorithm was successfully implemented and tested in the 70-m antenna at Deep Space Network station 63 in Spain

A new algorithm for modeling friction in dynamic mechanical systems

A method of modeling friction forces that impede the motion of parts of dynamic mechanical systems is described. Conventional methods in which the friction effect is assumed a constant force, or torque, in a direction opposite to the relative motion, are applicable only to those cases where applied forces are large in comparison to the friction, and where there is little interest in system behavior close to the times of transitions through zero velocity. An algorithm is described that provides accurate determination of friction forces over a wide range of applied force and velocity conditions. The method avoids the simulation errors resulting from a finite integration interval used in connection with a conventional friction model, as is the case in many digital computer-based simulations. The algorithm incorporates a predictive calculation based on initial conditions of motion, externally applied forces, inertia, and integration step size. The predictive calculation in connection with an external integration process provides an accurate determination of both static and Coulomb friction forces and resulting motions in dynamic simulations. Accuracy of the results is improved over that obtained with conventional methods and a relatively large integration step size is permitted. A function block for incorporation in a specific simulation program is described. The general form of the algorithm facilitates implementation with various programming languages such as FORTRAN or C, as well as with other simulation programs

On a class of linearizable Monge-Amp\`ere equations

Monge-Amp\`ere equations of the form, $u_{xx}u_{yy}-u_{xy}^2=F(u,u_x,u_y)$ arise in many areas of fluid and solid mechanics. Here it is shown that in the special case $F=u_y^4f(u, u_x/u_y)$, where $f$ denotes an arbitrary function, the Monge-Amp\`ere equation can be linearized by using a sequence of Amp\`ere, point, Legendre and rotation transformations. This linearization is a generalization of three examples from finite elasticity, involving plane strain and plane stress deformations of the incompressible perfectly elastic Varga material and also relates to a previous linearization of this equation due to Khabirov [7]

A new method for analysis of limit cycle behavior of the NASA/JPL 70-meter antenna axis servos

A piecewise linear method of analyzing the effects of discontinuous nonlinearities on control system performance is described. The limit cycle oscillatory behavior of the system resulting from the nonlinearities is described in terms of a sequence of linear system transient responses. The equations are derived which relate the initial and the terminal conditions of successive transients and the boundary conditions imposed by the non-linearities. The method leads to a convenient computation algorithm for prediction of limit cycle characteristics resulting from discontinuous nonlinearities such as friction, deadzones, and hysteresis

Disturbance torque rejection properties of the NASA/JPL 70-meter antenna axis servos

Analytic methods for evaluating pointing errors caused by external disturbance torques are developed and applied to determine the effects of representative values of wind and friction torque. The expressions relating pointing errors to disturbance torques are shown to be strongly dependent upon the state estimator parameters, as well as upon the state feedback gain and the flow versus pressure characteristics of the hydraulic system. Under certain conditions, when control is derived from an uncorrected estimate of integral position error, the desired type 2 servo properties are not realized and finite steady-state position errors result. Methods for reducing these errors to negligible proportions through the proper selection of control gain and estimator correction parameters are demonstrated. The steady-state error produced by a disturbance torque is found to be directly proportional to the hydraulic internal leakage. This property can be exploited to provide a convenient method of determining system leakage from field measurements of estimator error, axis rate, and hydraulic differential pressure