The design and development of a solar tracking unit

The solar tracking unit was developed to support the Laser Heterodyne Spectrometer (LHS) airborne instrument, but has application to a general class of airborne solar occultation research instruments. The unit consists of a mirror mounted on two gimbals, one of which is hollow. The mirror reflects a 7.6 cm (3.0 in.) diameter beam of sunlight through the hollow gimbal into the research instrument optical axis. A portion of the reflected sunlight is directed into a tracking telescope which uses a four quadrant silicon detector to produce the servo error signals. The colinearity of the tracker output beam and the research instrument optical axis is maintained to better than + or - 1 arc-minute. The unit is microcomputer controlled and is capable of stand alone operation, including automatic Sun acquisition or operation under the control of the research instrument

Incident shock-wave characteristics in air, argon, carbon dioxide, and helium in a shock tube with unheated helium driver

Incident shock-wave velocities were measured in the Langley 6-inch expansion tube, operated as a shock tube, with air, argon, carbon dioxide, and helium as test gases. Unheated helium was used as the driver gas and most data were obtained at pressures of approximately 34 and 54 MN/sq m. A range of pressure ratio across the diaphragm was obtained by varying the quiescent test-gas pressure, for a given driver pressure, from 0.0276 to 34.5 kN/sq m. Single- and double-diaphragm modes of operation were employed and diaphragms of various materials tested. Shock velocity was determined from microwave interferometer measurements, response of pressure transducers positioned along interferometer measurements, response of pressure transducers positioned along the driven section (time-of-arrival gages), and to a lesser extent, measured tube-wall pressure. Velocities obtained from these methods are compared and limitations of the methods discussed. The present results are compared with theory and the effects of diaphragm mode (single or double diaphragm), diaphragm material, heating of the driver gas upon pressurization of the driver section, diaphragm opening time, interface mixing, and two-dimensional (nonplanar) flow are discussed

An Analysis of the Quasicontinuum Method

The aim of this paper is to present a streamlined and fully three-dimensional version of the quasicontinuum (QC) theory of Tadmor et al. and to analyze its accuracy and convergence characteristics. Specifically, we assess the effect of the summation rules on accuracy; we determine the rate of convergence of the method in the presence of strong singularities, such as point loads; and we assess the effect of the refinement tolerance, which controls the rate at which new nodes are inserted in the model, on the development of dislocation microstructures.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures. To appear in Jornal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solid

A decelerating jet observed by the EVN and VLBA in the X-ray transient XTE J1752-223

The recently discovered Galactic X-ray transient XTE J1752-223 entered its first known outburst in 2010, emitting from the X-ray to the radio regimes. Its general X-ray properties were consistent with those of a black hole candidate in various spectral states, when ejection of jet components is expected. To verify this, we carried out very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. The measurements were carried out with the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at four epochs in 2010 February. The images at the first three epochs show a moving jet component that is significantly decelerated by the last epoch, when a new jet component appears that is likely to be associated with the receding jet side. The overall picture is consistent with an initially mildly relativistic jet, interacting with the interstellar medium or with swept-up material along the jet. The brightening of the receding ejecta at the final epoch can be well explained by initial Doppler deboosting of the emission in the decelerating jet.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. 5 pages, 2 figure

Opening angles, Lorentz factors and confinement of X-ray binary jets

We present a collation of the available data on the opening angles of jets in X-ray binaries, which in most cases are small (less than 10 degrees). Under the assumption of no confinement, we calculate the Lorentz factors required to produce such small opening angles via the transverse relativistic Doppler effect. The derived Lorentz factors, which are in most cases lower limits, are found to be large, with a mean greater than 10, comparable to those estimated for AGN and much higher than the commonly-assumed values for X-ray binaries of 2 to 5. Jet power constraints do not in most cases rule out such high Lorentz factors. The upper limits on the opening angles show no evidence for smaller Lorentz factors in the steady jets of Cygnus X-1 and GRS 1915+105. In those sources in which deceleration has been observed (notably XTE J1550-564 and Cygnus X-3), some confinement of the jets must be occurring, and we briefly discuss possible confinement mechanisms. It is however possible that all the jets could be confined, in which case the requirement for high bulk Lorentz factors can be relaxed.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures (2 colour), accepted for publication in MNRA

In Defense of the Land Residual Theory and the Absence of a Business Value Component for Retail Property

The temptation is strong for arguing that property values can be broken down into land, improvements, and business value, as only land and improvements are subject to property tax. As sympathetic as the authors are to this motivation, the notion of a long-run business value component for retail property is refuted and the land residual value theory reasserted, while at the same time admitting the possibility of first owner entrepreneurial or development-based value creation. It is argued that any excess property productivity will eventually become attached to the land, and last that option values are an important aspect of land values that would be affected when suggesting that the appropriate value of a given property is the cost of substituting adjacent property.

Correlation of Puma airloads: Evaluation of CFD prediction methods

A cooperative program was undertaken by research organizations in England, France, Australia and the U.S. to study the capabilities of computational fluid dynamics codes (CFD) to predict the aerodynamic loading on helicopter rotor blades. The program goal is to compare predictions with experimental data for flight tests of a research Puma helicopter with rectangular and swept tip blades. Two topics are studied. First, computed results from three CFD codes are compared for flight test cases where all three codes use the same partial inflow-angle boundary conditions. Second, one of the CFD codes (FPR) is iteratively coupled with the CAMRAD/JA helicopter performance code. These results are compared with experimental data and with an uncoupled CAMRAD/JA solution. The influence of flow field unsteadiness is found to play an important role in the blade aerodynamics. Alternate boundary conditions are suggested in order to properly model this unsteadiness in the CFD codes