Spectral UV measurements in Austria from 1994 to 2006: investigations of short- and long-term changes

The influence of variability of atmospheric parameters on short- and long-term changes of spectral UV irradiance measured at the Sonnblick observatory (47.03° N, 12.57° E, 3106 m) during the period from 1994 to 2006 is studied. Measurements were performed with the Brewer #093 single-monochromator spectrophotometer and with a Bentham DM 150 spectroradiometer (double-monochromator). <br> <br> The influence of ozone, albedo, snowline and clouds on UV variability is evaluated for each parameter separately using 10-year climatology. It is found that the effect of total ozone on short-term variability of UV irradiance at 305 nm can be more than 200% and on average more than 50%. Clouds can cause variability of 150% or more and on average 35%. Variability caused by albedo reaches a maximum of 32% in April (6% on average). In summer and autumn, total ozone and clouds strongly influence the variability of UV radiation, whereas in winter and spring ozone has the more pronounced effect. A decrease in snowline height from 3000 m to 800 m a.s.l. enhances the UV irradiance by a factor of 1.24 for clear sky conditions and by a factor of 1.7 for 8/8 cloud cover. <br> <br> Long-term trends are investigated for the time period from 1994 to 2006 based on clear-sky measurements, using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend test. Significant downward trends (99% confidence level) are found for solar zenith angle 55° at wavelengths from 305 nm to 324 nm and erythemally weighted irradiance according to CIE, which are caused by an increase in sunshine duration during periods of high total column ozone. Significant trends (90% confidence level) were also found for other combinations of wavelength and SZA

High Speed In Situ Synchrotron Observation of Cyclic Deformation and Phase Transformation of Superelastic Nitinol at Ultrasonic Frequency

The near equi-atomic intermetallic Ni Ti alloy Nitinol is used for medical implants, notably in self-expanding stent grafts and heart valve frames, which are subjected to several hundred million load cycles in service. Increasing the testing frequency to the ultrasonic range would drastically shorten the testing times and make the very-high cycle regime experimentally accessible. Such tests are, however, only meaningful if the material response at ultrasonic frequency is identical to that observed in conventional fatigue tests. A novel fatigue testing setup where superelastic Nitinol dog bone specimens are loaded at ultrasonic cycling frequency is presented. Loading conditions resemble in vivo loading (i.e., repeated cyclic loading with relatively small strain amplitudes, specimens in a pre-strained multi-phase state). Strains and phase transformations during ultrasonic frequency cycling are quantitatively measured in an X-ray diffraction (XRD) synchrotron experiment and compared to the material response at low frequency. The XRD experiment confirms that forward and reverse stress-induced phase transformation from austenite to martensite via the intermediate R-phase occurs during low frequency (0.1 Hz, strain rate ε˙ ≈ 10−3 s−1) and ultrasonic frequency (20 kHz, ε˙ ≈ 102 s−1) cycling. Since the same deformation mechanisms are active at low and ultrasonic frequency, these findings imply a general applicability of the ultrasonic fatigue testing technique to Nitinol

Usability of Ultrasonic Frequency Testing for Rapid Generation of High and Very High Cycle Fatigue Data

Ultrasonic fatigue testing is an increasingly used method to study the high cycle fatigue (HCF) and very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) properties of materials. Specimens are cycled at an ultrasonic frequency, which leads to a drastic reduction of testing times. This work focused on summarising the current understanding, based on literature data and original work, whether and how fatigue properties measured with ultrasonic and conventional equipment are comparable. Aluminium alloys are not strain-rate sensitive. A weaker influence of air humidity at ultrasonic frequencies may lead to prolonged lifetimes in some alloys, and tests in high humidity or distilled water can better approximate environmental conditions at low frequencies. High-strength steels are insensitive to the cycling frequency. Strain rate sensitivity of ferrite causes prolonged lifetimes in those steels that show crack initiation in the ferritic phase. Austenitic stainless steels are less prone to frequency effects. Fatigue properties of titanium alloys and nickel alloys are insensitive to testing frequency. Limited data for magnesium alloys and graphite suggest no frequency influence. Ultrasonic fatigue tests of a glass fibre-reinforced polymer delivered comparable lifetimes to servo-hydraulic tests, suggesting that high-frequency testing is, in principle, applicable to fibre-reinforced polymer composites. The use of equipment with closed-loop control of vibration amplitude and resonance frequency is strongly advised since this guarantees high accuracy and reproducibility of ultrasonic tests. Pulsed loading and appropriate cooling serve to avoid specimen heating

Investigation of the 3-D actinic flux field in mountainous terrain

AbstractDuring three field campaigns spectral actinic flux was measured from 290–500nm under clear sky conditions in Alpine terrain and the associated O3- and NO2-photolysis frequencies were calculated and the measurement products were then compared with 1-D- and 3-D-model calculations. To do this 3-D-radiative transfer model was adapted for actinic flux calculations in mountainous terrain and the maps of the actinic flux field at the surface, calculated with the 3-D-radiative transfer model, are given. The differences between the 3-D- and 1-D-model results for selected days during the campaigns are shown, together with the ratios of the modeled actinic flux values to the measurements. In many cases the 1-D-model overestimates actinic flux by more than the measurement uncertainty of 10%. The results of using a 3-D-model generally show significantly lower values, and can underestimate the actinic flux by up to 30%. This case study attempts to quantify the impact of snow cover in combination with topography on spectral actinic flux. The impact of snow cover on the actinic flux was ~25% in narrow snow covered valleys, but for snow free areas there were no significant changes due snow cover in the surrounding area and it is found that the effect snow-cover at distances over 5km from the point of interest was below 5%. Overall the 3-D-model can calculate actinic flux to the same accuracy as the 1-D-model for single points, but gives a much more realistic view of the surface actinic flux field in mountains as topography and obstruction of the horizon are taken into account

The influence of the spatial resolution of topographic input data on the accuracy of 3-D UV actinic flux and irradiance calculations

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the spatial resolution of a digital elevation map (DEM) on the three-dimensional (3-D) radiative transfer performance for both spectral ultraviolet (UV) irradiance and actinic flux at 305 nm. Model simulations were performed for clear sky conditions for three case studies: the first and second one using three sites in the Innsbruck area and the third one using three sites at the Sonnblick observatory and surrounding area. It was found that the DEM resolution may change the altitude at some locations by up to 500 m, resulting in changes in the sky obscured by the horizon of up to 15%. The geographical distribution of UV irradiance and actinic flux shows that with larger pixel size, uncertainties in UV irradiance and actinic flux determination of up to 100% are possible. These large changes in incident irradiance and actinic flux with changing pixel size are strongly connected to shading effects. The effect of the DEM pixel size on irradiance and actinic flux was studied at the six locations, and it was found that significant increases in irradiance and actinic flux with increasing DEM pixel size occurred at one valley location at high solar zenith angles in the Innsbruck area as well as for one steep valley location in the Sonnblick area. This increase in irradiance and actinic flux with increasing DEM resolution is most likely to be connected to shading effects affecting the reflections from the surroundings