1,245 research outputs found
Dynamic hysteresis in Finemet thin films
We performed a series of dynamic hysteresis measurements on three series of
Finemet films with composition FeCuNbSiB, using
both the longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and the inductive
fluxometric method. The MOKE dynamic hysteresis loops show a more marked
variability with the frequency than the inductive ones, while both measurements
show a similar dependence on the square root of frequency. We analyze these
results in the frame of a simple domain wall depinning model, which accounts
for the general behavior of the data.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers
© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.In the recent years, the presence of alternative power sources, such as solar panels, wind farms, hydropumps
and hydrogen-based devices, has significantly increased. The reasons of this trend are clear: contributing to
a reduction of gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Hydrogen-based devices are of particular interest due
to their significant efficiency and reliability. Reforming technologies are among the most economic and efficient ways
of producing hydrogen. In this paper we consider the regulation of hydrogen outflow in an ethanol steam reformer
(ESR). In particular, a fast model predictive control approach based on a finite step response model of the process
is proposed. Simulations performed using a more realistic non-linear model show the effectiveness of the proposed
approach in driving the ESR to different operating conditions while fulfilling input and output constraints.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Stellar growth by disk accretion: the effect of disk irradiation on the protostellar evolution
Young stars are expected to gain most of their mass by accretion from a disk
that forms around them as a result of angular momentum conservation in the
collapsing protostellar cloud. Accretion initially proceeds at high rates of
10^{-6}-10^{-5} M_Sun/yr resulting in strong irradiation of the stellar surface
by the hot inner portion of the disk and leading to the suppression of the
intrinsic stellar luminosity. Here we investigate how this luminosity
suppression affects evolution of the protostellar properties. Using simple
model based on the energy balance of accreting star we demonstrate that disk
irradiation causes only a slight increase of the protostellar radius, at the
level of several per cent. Such a weak effect is explained by a minor role
played by the intrinsic stellar luminosity (at the time when it is
significantly altered by irradiation) in the protostellar energy budget
compared to the stellar deuterium burning luminosity and the inflow of the
gravitational potential energy brought in by the freshly accreted material. Our
results justify the neglect of irradiation effects in previous studies of the
protostellar growth via disk accretion. Evolution of some other actively
accreting objects such as young brown dwarfs and planets should also be only
weakly sensitive to the effects of disk irradiation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Ap
Thermo-statistical description of gas mixtures from space partitions
The new mathematical framework based on the free energy of pure classical
fluids presented in [R. D. Rohrmann, Physica A 347, 221 (2005)] is extended to
multi-component systems to determine thermodynamic and structural properties of
chemically complex fluids. Presently, the theory focuses on -dimensional
mixtures in the low-density limit (packing factor ). The formalism
combines the free-energy minimization technique with space partitions that
assign an available volume to each particle. is related to the
closeness of the nearest neighbor and provides an useful tool to evaluate the
perturbations experimented by particles in a fluid. The theory shows a close
relationship between statistical geometry and statistical mechanics. New,
unconventional thermodynamic variables and mathematical identities are derived
as a result of the space division. Thermodynamic potentials ,
conjugate variable of the populations of particles class with the
nearest neighbors of class are defined and their relationships with the
usual chemical potentials are established. Systems of hard spheres are
treated as illustrative examples and their thermodynamics functions are derived
analytically. The low-density expressions obtained agree nicely with those of
scaled-particle theory and Percus-Yevick approximation. Several pair
distribution functions are introduced and evaluated. Analytical expressions are
also presented for hard spheres with attractive forces due to K\^ac-tails and
square-well potentials. Finally, we derive general chemical equilibrium
conditions.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Parental evaluation of a telemonitoring service for children with Type 1 Diabetes
Introduction In the past years, we developed a telemonitoring service for young patients affected by Type 1 Diabetes. That service provides data to the clinical staff and offers an important tool to the parents, that are able to oversee in real time their children. The aim of this work was to analyze the parents' perceived usefulness of the service. Methods The service was tested by the parents of 31 children enrolled in a seven-day clinical trial during a summer camp. To study the parents' perception we proposed and analyzed two questionnaires. A baseline questionnaire focused on the daily management and implications of their children's diabetes, while a post-study one measured the perceived benefits of telemonitoring. Questionnaires also included free text comment spaces. Results Analysis of the baseline questionnaires underlined the parents' suffering and fatigue: 51% of total responses showed a negative tendency and the mean value of the perceived quality of life was 64.13 in a 0-100 scale. In the post-study questionnaires about half of the parents believed in a possible improvement adopting telemonitoring. Moreover, the foreseen improvement in quality of life was significant, increasing from 64.13 to 78.39 ( p-value\u2009=\u20090.0001). The analysis of free text comments highlighted an improvement in mood, and parents' commitment was also proved by their willingness to pay for the service (median\u2009=\u2009200\u2009euro/year). Discussion A high number of parents appreciated the telemonitoring service and were confident that it could improve communication with physicians as well as the family's own peace of mind
Low field hysteresis in disordered ferromagnets
We analyze low field hysteresis close to the demagnetized state in disordered
ferromagnets using the zero temperature random-field Ising model. We solve the
demagnetization process exactly in one dimension and derive the Rayleigh law of
hysteresis. The initial susceptibility a and the hysteretic coefficient b
display a peak as a function of the disorder width. This behavior is confirmed
by numerical simulations d=2,3 showing that in limit of weak disorder
demagnetization is not possible and the Rayleigh law is not defined. These
results are in agreement with experimental observations on nanocrystalline
magnetic materials.Comment: Extended version, 18 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Characterization of exopolysaccharides produced by seven biofilm-forming cyanobacterial strains for biotechnological applications
The molecular identification of seven biofilmforming
cyanobacteria and the characterization of their
exopolysaccharides were made and considered in terms of
potential biotechnological applications. The studied strains
were isolated from phototrophic biofilms taken from various
Italian sites including a wastewater treatment plant, an eroded
soil, and a brackish lagoon. The polysaccharides were
characterized by use of ion exchange chromatography,
circular dichroism, and cytochemical stains. All strains produced
exopolysaccharides with differing ratios of hydrophobic
and hydrophilic moieties depending on the species, the
polysaccharide fraction (i.e., whether capsular or released),
and the ambient conditions. It was shown that the anionic
nature of the exopolysaccharides was due to the presence of
carboxylic and sulfated groups and is likely the main characteristic
with industrial applicability. Potential biotechnological
applications are discusse
Physics-based modelling and validation of inter-granular helium behaviour in SCIANTIX
In this work, we propose a new mechanistic model for the treatment of helium behaviour at the grain
boundaries in oxide nuclear fuel. The model provides a rate-theory description of helium inter-granular behaviour, considering diffusion towards grain edges, trapping in lenticular bubbles, and thermal resolution. It is paired with a rate-theory description of helium intra-granular behaviour that includes diffusion towards grain boundaries, trapping in spherical bubbles, and thermal re-solution. The proposed model has been implemented in the meso-scale software designed for coupling with fuel performance codes SCIANTIX. It is validated against thermal desorption experiments performed on doped UO2 samples annealed at different temperatures. The overall agreement of the new model with the experimental data is improved, both in terms of integral helium release and of the helium release rate. By considering the contribution of helium at the grain boundaries in the new model, it is possible to represent the kinetics of helium release rate at high temperature. Given the uncertainties involved in the initial conditions for the inter-granular part of the model and the uncertainties associated to some model parameters for which limited lower-length scale information is available, such as the helium diffusivity at the grain boundaries, the results are complemented by a dedicated uncertainty analysis. This assessment demonstrates that the initial conditions, chosen in a reasonable range, have limited impact on the results, and confirms that it is possible to achieve satisfying results using sound values for the uncertain physical parameters
Towards a Model-Based Field-Frequency Lock for NMR
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Influence of long-range dipolar interactions on the phase stability and hysteresis shapes of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric multilayers
Phase transition and field driven hysteresis evolution of a two-dimensional Ising grid consisting of ferroelectric-antiferroelectric multilayers that take into account the long range dipolar interactions were simulated by a Monte-Carlo method. Simulations were carried out for a 1+1 bilayer and a 5+5 superlattice. Phase stabilities of components comprising the structures with an electrostatic-like coupling term were also studied. An electrostatic-like coupling, in the absence of an applied field, can drive the ferroelectric layers towards 180º domains with very flat domain interfaces mainly due to the competition between this term and the dipole-dipole interaction. The antiferroelectric layers do not undergo an antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric transition under the influence of an electrostatic-like coupling between layers as the ferroelectric layer splits into periodic domains at the expense of the domain wall energy. The long-range interactions become significant near the interfaces. For high periodicity structures with several interfaces, the interlayer long-range interactions substantially impact the configuration of the ferroelectric layers while the antiferroelectric layers remain quite stable unless these layers are near the Neel temperature. In systems investigated with several interfaces, the hysteresis loops do not exhibit a clear presence of antiferroelectricity that could be expected in the presence of anti-parallel dipoles, i. e., the switching takes place abruptly. Some recent experimental observations in ferroelectric-antiferroelectric multilayers are discussed where we conclude that the different electrical properties of bilayers and superlattices are not only due to strain effects alone but also long-range interactions. The latter manifests itself particularly in superlattices where layers are periodically exposed to each other at the interfaces
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