1,821 research outputs found
A study of environmental characterization of conventional and advanced aluminum alloys for selection and design. Phase 2: The breaking load test method
A technique is demonstrated for accelerated stress corrosion testing of high strength aluminum alloys. The method offers better precision and shorter exposure times than traditional pass fail procedures. The approach uses data from tension tests performed on replicate groups of smooth specimens after various lengths of exposure to static stress. The breaking strength measures degradation in the test specimen load carrying ability due to the environmental attack. Analysis of breaking load data by extreme value statistics enables the calculation of survival probabilities and a statistically defined threshold stress applicable to the specific test conditions. A fracture mechanics model is given which quantifies depth of attack in the stress corroded specimen by an effective flaw size calculated from the breaking stress and the material strength and fracture toughness properties. Comparisons are made with experimental results from three tempers of 7075 alloy plate tested by the breaking load method and by traditional tests of statistically loaded smooth tension bars and conventional precracked specimens
MWL observations of VHE blazars in 2006
In 2006 the MAGIC telescope observed the well known very high energy (VHE, >
80 GeV) blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 in the course of multi-wavelength
campaigns, comprising measurements in the optical, X-ray and VHE regime. MAGIC
performed additional snapshot observations on Mrk 421 around the MWL campaigns
and detected the source each night with high significance, establishing once
more flux variability on nightly scales for this object. For certain nights,
the integral flux exceeded the one of Crab significantly, whereas the truly
simultaneous observations have been conducted in a rather low flux state. The
MAGIC observations contemporaneous to XMM-Newton revealed clear intra-night
variability. No significant correlation between the spectral index and the flux
could be found for the nine days of observations. The VHE observations of Mrk
501 have been conducted during one of the lowest flux states ever measured by
MAGIC for this object. The VHE and optical light curves do not show significant
variability, whereas the flux in X-rays increased by about 50 %. In this
contribution, the results of the MAGIC observations will be presented in
detail.Comment: Contribution to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200
The Bivariate Normal Copula
We collect well known and less known facts about the bivariate normal
distribution and translate them into copula language. In addition, we prove a
very general formula for the bivariate normal copula, we compute Gini's gamma,
and we provide improved bounds and approximations on the diagonal.Comment: 24 page
Avalanche Dynamics in Wet Granular Materials
We have studied the dynamics of avalanching wet granular media in a rotating
drum apparatus. Quantitative measurements of the flow velocity and the granular
flux during avalanches allow us to characterize novel avalanche types unique to
wet media. We also explore the details of viscoplastic flow (observed at the
highest liquid contents) in which there are lasting contacts during flow,
leading to coherence across the entire sample. This coherence leads to a
velocity independent flow depth at high rotation rates and novel robust pattern
formation in the granular surface.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures in color, REVTeX4, for smaller pdfs see
http://angel.elte.hu/~tegzes/condmat.htm
Toward a Social Practice Theory of Relational Competing
This paper brings together the competitive dynamics and strategy-aspractice literatures to investigate relational competition. Drawing on a global ethnography of the reinsurance market, we develop the concept of micro-competitions, which are the focus of competitors’ everyday competitive practices. We find variation in relational or rivalrous competition by individual competitors across the phases of a micro-competition, between competitors within a micro-competition, and across multiple micro-competitions. These variations arise from the interplay between the unfolding competitive arena and the implementation of each firm’s strategic portfolio. We develop a conceptual framework that makes four contributions to: relational competition; reconceptualizing action and response; elaborating on the awareness-motivation-capability framework within competitive dynamics; and the recursive dynamic by which implementing strategy inside firms shapes, and is shaped by, the competitive arena
Evidence for Kosterlitz-Thouless type orientational ordering of CFBr monolayers physisorbed on graphite
Monolayers of the halomethane CFBr adsorbed on graphite have been
investigated by x-ray diffraction. The layers crystallize in a commensurate
triangular lattice. On cooling they approach a three-sublattice
antiferroelectric pattern of the in-plane components of the dipole moments. The
ordering is not consistent with a conventional phase transition, but points to
Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior. It is argued that the transition is described by
a 6-state clock model on a triangular lattice with antiferromagnetic nearest
neighbor interactions which is studied with Monte-Carlo simulations. A
finite-size scaling analysis shows that the ordering transition is indeed in
the KT universality class.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Nitrous oxide emissions from grass–clover swards as influenced by sward age and biological nitrogen fixation
Grassland renovation by cultivation and reseeding has been shown to increase short‐term emissions of N2O, but there is uncertainty about long‐term effects, despite the potential impacts of reseeding on sward composition and soil functions. A field experiment was therefore carried out to determine how N2O emissions from previously renovated grasslands varied in the intermediate to long‐term, compared with an undisturbed permanent grassland (PG). Plots on the PG site were renovated, either two (G2) or five (G5) years prior to the two experimental years. In each sward age and experimental year, annual N2O‐measurements were conducted on a weekly basis and compared with the undisturbed PG. Plots were either unfertilized or were fertilized with slurry (240 kg N ha−1 year−1). On average, annual N2O emissions were 0.39 kg N/ha for the unfertilized swards, and 0.91 kg N/ha for slurry‐fertilized swards. Sward age had no effect on N2O emissions. With increasing sward age the proportion of legumes in the sward was reduced, but a minimum biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of 88 kg N/ha was maintained even in the fertilized PG. Both sward age and BNF were of limited importance for the annual N2O emissions compared with the effects of soil carbon content and nitrogen surplus levels. However, measured N2O emissions were low in all sward age treatments, with a low risk of additional N2O emissions when BNF is taken into account in fertilizer planning
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