Variable stiffness polymeric damper

Shock and vibration damping device using temperature sensitive solid amorphous polymer

Mechanical properties of plastics predetermined by empirical method

To predetermine the mechanical properties of rigid plastics as a function of plasticizer content and composition, a set of equations has been empirically derived. These relate strain rate, yield stress, temperature, and weight fraction of the plasticizer

One, two, or three stars? An investigation of an unusual eclipsing binary candidate undergoing dramatic period changes

We report our investigation of 1SWASP J234401.81-212229.1, a variable with a 18 461.6 s period. After identification in a 2011 search of the SuperWASP archive for main-sequence eclipsing binary candidates near the distribution's short-period limit of ~0.20 d, it was measured to be undergoing rapid period decrease in our earlier work, though later observations supported a cyclic variation in period length. Spectroscopic data obtained in 2012 with the Southern African Large Telescope did not, however, support the interpretation of the object as a normal eclipsing binary. Here, we consider three possible explanations consistent with the data: a single-star oblique rotator model in which variability results from stable cool spots on opposite magnetic poles; a two-star model in which the secondary is a brown dwarf; and a three-star model involving a low-mass eclipsing binary in a hierarchical triple system. We conclude that the latter is the most likely model

Measuring Seaport Performance and Congestion in the Republic of Korea

Companies continue to globalize their supply chain operations increasing cargo traffic and creating excessive shipping demand on ports across the globe resulting in port congestion. This increased congestion impacts USTRANSCOM’s cargo movement operations, which compete for use of the same port resources. While the DoD has organic transportation capabilities, most of the cargo is moved by commercial ocean liners. It is, therefore, necessary to understand port operations, identify excess capacity, and exploit it to avoid congestion at ports. The purpose of this study is to identify peak and idle periods by evaluating the comparative performance of seaports using data envelopment analysis (DEA)

The Arches cluster revisited: I. Data presentation and stellar census

Context. Located within the central region of the Galaxy, the Arches cluster appears to be one of the youngest, densest and most massive stellar aggregates within the Milky Way. As such it has the potential to be a uniquely instructive laboratory for the study of star formation in extreme environments and the physics of very massive stars. Aims. To realise this possibility, the fundamental physical properties of both cluster and constituent stars need to be robustly determined; tasks we attempt here. Methods. In order to accomplish these goals we provide and analyse new multi-epoch near-IR spectroscopic data obtained with the VLT/SINFONI and photometry from the HST/WFC3. We are able to stack multiple epochs of spectroscopy for individual stars in order to obtain the deepest view of the cluster members ever obtained. Results. We present spectral classifications for 88 cluster members, all of which are WNLh or O stars: a factor of three increase over previous studies. We find no further examples of Wolf-Rayet stars within the cluster; importantly no H-free examples were identified. The smooth and continuous progression in spectral morphologies from O super-/hypergiants through to the WNLh cohort implies a direct evolutionary connection. We identify candidate giant and main sequence O stars spectroscopically for the first time. No products of binary evolution may be unambiguously identified despite the presence of massive binaries within the Arches. Conclusions. Notwithstanding difficulties imposed by the highly uncertain (differential) reddening to the Arches, we infer a main sequence/luminosity class V turn-off mass of ∼ 30 − 38M⊙ via the distribution of spectral types. Analysis of the eclipsing binary F2 suggests current masses of ∼ 80M⊙ and ∼ 60M⊙ for the WNLh and O hypergiant cohorts, respectively; we conclude that all classified stars have masses > 20M⊙. An age of ∼ 2.0 − 3.3Myr is suggested by the turn-off between ∼O4-5 V; constraints imposed by the supergiant population and the lack of H-free WRs are consistent with this estimate. While the absence of highly evolved WC stars strongly argues against the prior occurrence of SNe within the Arches, the derived age does accommodate such events for exceptionally massive stars. Further progress will require quantitative analysis of multiple individual cluster members in addition to further spectroscopic observations to better constrain the binary and main sequence populations; nevertheless it is abundantly clear that the Arches offers an unprecedented insight into the formation, evolution and death of the most massive stars Nature allows to form

The Arches cluster revisited: II. A massive eclipsing spectroscopic binary in the Arches cluster

We have carried out a spectroscopic variability survey of some of the most massive stars in the Arches cluster, using K-band observations obtained with SINFONI on the VLT. One target, F2, exhibits substantial changes in radial velocity; in combination with new KMOS and archival SINFONI spectra, its primary component is found to undergo radial velocity variation with a period of 10.483+/-0.002 d and an amplitude of ~350 km/s-1. A secondary radial velocity curve is also marginally detectable. We reanalyse archival NAOS-CONICA photometric survey data in combination with our radial velocity results to confirm this object as an eclipsing SB2 system, and the first binary identified in the Arches. We model it as consisting of an 82+/-12 M⊙ WN8-9h primary and a 60+/-8 M⊙ O5-6 Ia+ secondary, and as having a slightly eccentric orbit, implying an evolutionary stage prior to strong binary interaction. As one of four X-ray bright Arches sources previously proposed as colliding-wind massive binaries, it may be only the first of several binaries to be discovered in this cluster, presenting potential challenges to recent models for the Arches' age and composition. It also appears to be one of the most massive binaries detected to date; the primary's calculated initial mass of >~120 M⊙ would arguably make this the most massive binary known in the Galaxy

New Cepheid variables in the young open clusters Berkeley 51 and Berkeley 55

As part of a wider investigation of evolved massive stars in Galactic open clusters, we have spectroscopically identified three candidate classical Cepheids in the little-studied clusters Berkeley 51, Berkeley 55 and NGC 6603. Using new multi-epoch photometry, we confirm that Be 51 #162 and Be 55 #107 are bona fide Cepheids, with pulsation periods of 9.83±0.01 d and 5.850±0.005 d respectively, while NGC 6603 star W2249 does not show significant photometric variability. Using the period-luminosity relationship for Cepheid variables, we determine a distance to Be 51 of 5.3 +1.0 −0.8 kpc and an age of 44 +9 −8 Myr, placing it in a sparsely-attested region of the Perseus arm. For Be 55, we find a distance of 2.2±0.3 kpc and age of 63 +12 −11 Myr, locating the cluster in the Local arm. Taken together with our recent discovery of a long-period Cepheid in the starburst cluster VdBH222, these represent an important increase in the number of young, massive Cepheids known in Galactic open clusters. We also consider new Gaia (data release 2) parallaxes and proper motions for members of Be 51 and Be 55; the uncertainties on the parallaxes do not allow us to refine our distance estimates to these clusters, but the well-constrained proper motion measurements furnish further confirmation of cluster membership. However, future final Gaia parallaxes for such objects should provide valuable independent distance measurements, improving the calibration of the period-luminosity relationship, with implications for the distance ladder out to cosmological scales