An experimental investigation of vortex breakdown on a delta wing

An experimental investigation of vortex breakdown on delta wings at high angles is presented. Thin delta wings having sweep angles of 70, 75, 80 and 85 degrees are being studied. Smoke flow visualization and the laser light sheet technique are being used to obtain cross-sectional views of the leading edge vortices as they break down. At low tunnel speeds (as low as 3 m/s) details of the flow, which are usually imperceptible or blurred at higher speeds, can be clearly seen. A combination of lateral and longitudinal cross-sectional views provides information on the three dimensional nature of the vortex structure before, during and after breakdown. Whereas details of the flow are identified in still photographs, the dynamic characteristics of the breakdown process were recorded using high speed movies. Velocity measurements were obtained using a laser Doppler anemometer with the 70 degree delta wing at 30 degrees angle of attack. The measurements show that when breakdown occurs the core flow transforms from a jet-like flow to a wake-like flow

YF-12 Lockalloy ventral fin program, volume 1

Results are presented of the YF-12 Lockalloy Ventral Fin Program which was carried out by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation - Advanced Development Projects for the joint NASA/USAF YF-12 Project. The primary purpose of the program was to redesign and fabricate the ventral fin of the YF-12 research airplane (to reduce flutter) using Lockalloy, and alloy of beryllium and aluminum, as a major structural material. A secondary purpose, was to make a material characterization study (thermodynamic properties, corrosion; fatigue tests, mechanical properties) of Lockalloy to validate the design of the ventral fin and expand the existing data base on this material. All significant information pertinent to the design and fabrication of the ventral fin is covered. Emphasis throughout is given to Lockalloy fabrication and machining techniques and attendant personnel safety precautions. Costs are also examined. Photographs of tested alloy specimens are shown along with the test equipment used

A primer on quasi-convex functions in nonlinear potential theories

We present a self-contained treatment of the fundamental role that quasi-convex functions play in general (nonlinear second order) potential theories, which concerns the study of generalized subharmonics associated to a suitable closed subset (subequations) of the space of 2-jets. Quasi-convex functions build a bridge between classical and viscosity notions of solutions of the natural Dirichlet problem in any potential theory. Moreover, following a program initiated by Harvey and Lawson in [arXiv:0710.3991], a potential-theoretic approach is widely being applied for treating nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). This viewpoint revisits the conventional viscosity approach to nonlinear PDEs [arXiv:math/9207212] under a more geometric prospective inspired by Krylov (1995) and takes much insight from classical pluripotential theory. The possibility of a symbiotic and productive relationship between general potential theories and nonlinear PDEs relies heavily on the class of quasi-convex functions, which are themselves the generalized subharmonics of a pure second order constant coefficient potential theory.Comment: 105 pages, 2 figures. Introduction extended, guide to the reader added, exposition refine

Magnetism and Magnetic Isomers in Free Chromium Clusters

We have used the Stern-Gerlach deflection technique to study magnetism in chromium clusters of 20-133 atoms. Between 60 K and 100 K, we observe that these clusters have large magnetic moments and respond superparamagnetically to applied magnetic fields. Using superparamagnetic theory, we have determined the moment per atom for each cluster size and find that it often far exceeds the moment per atom present anywhere in the bulk antiferromagnetic lattice. Remarkably, our cluster beam contains two magnetically distinguishable forms of each cluster size with >= 34 atoms. We attribute this observation to structural isomers

Componential coding in the condition monitoring of electrical machines Part 2: application to a conventional machine and a novel machine

This paper (Part 2) presents the practical application of componential coding, the principles of which were described in the accompanying Part 1 paper. Four major issues are addressed, including optimization of the neural network, assessment of the anomaly detection results, development of diagnostic approaches (based on the reconstruction error) and also benchmarking of componential coding with other techniques (including waveform measures, Fourier-based signal reconstruction and principal component analysis). This is achieved by applying componential coding to the data monitored from both a conventional induction motor and from a novel transverse flux motor. The results reveal that machine condition monitoring using componential coding is not only capable of detecting and then diagnosing anomalies but it also outperforms other conventional techniques in that it is able to separate very small and localized anomalies

Nuclear Corrections to Hyperfine Structure in Light Hydrogenic Atoms

Hyperfine intervals in light hydrogenic atoms and ions are among the most accurately measured quantities in physics. The theory of QED corrections has recently advanced to the point that uncalculated terms for hydrogenic atoms and ions are probably smaller than 0.1 parts per million (ppm), and the experiments are even more accurate. The difference of the experiments and QED theory is interpreted as the effect on the hyperfine interaction of the (finite) nuclear charge and magnetization distributions, and this difference varies from tens to hundreds of ppm. We have calculated the dominant component of the 1s hyperfine interval for deuterium, tritium and singly ionized helium, using modern second-generation potentials to compute the nuclear component of the hyperfine splitting for the deuteron and the trinucleon systems. The calculated nuclear corrections are within 3% of the experimental values for deuterium and tritium, but are about 20% discrepant for singly ionized helium. The nuclear corrections for the trinucleon systems can be qualitatively understood by invoking SU(4) symmetry.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figure, latex - submitted to Physical Review

A CF3I-based SDD Prototype for Spin-independent Dark Matter Searches

The application of Superheated Droplet Detectors (SDDs) to dark matter searches has so far been confined to the light nuclei refrigerants C2ClF5 and C4F10 (SIMPLE and PICASSO, respectively), with a principle sensitivity to spin-dependent interactions. Given the competitive results of these devices, as a result of their intrinsic insensitivity to backgrounds, we have developed a prototype trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I)-loaded SDD with increased sensitivity to spin-independent interactions as well. A low (0.102 kgd) exposure test operation of two high concentration, 1 liter devices is described, and the results compared with leading experiments in both spin-dependent and -independent sectors. Although competitive in both sectors when the difference in exposures is accounted for, a problem with fracturing of the detector gel must be addressed before significantly larger exposures can be envisioned.Comment: revised and updated; accepted Astrop. Phy

Continuous sedation until death: The everyday moral reasoning of physicians, nurses and family caregivers in the UK, The Netherlands and Belgium

Copyright © 2014 Raus et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background - Continuous sedation is increasingly used as a way to relieve symptoms at the end of life. Current research indicates that some physicians, nurses, and relatives involved in this practice experience emotional and/or moral distress. This study aims to provide insight into what may influence how professional and/or family carers cope with such distress. Methods - This study is an international qualitative interview study involving interviews with physicians, nurses, and relatives of deceased patients in the UK, The Netherlands and Belgium (the UNBIASED study) about a case of continuous sedation at the end of life they were recently involved in. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by staying close to the data using open coding. Next, codes were combined into larger themes and categories of codes resulting in a four point scheme that captured all of the data. Finally, our findings were compared with others and explored in relation to theories in ethics and sociology. Results - The participants’ responses can be captured as different dimensions of ‘closeness’, i.e. the degree to which one feels connected or ‘close’ to a certain decision or event. We distinguished four types of ‘closeness’, namely emotional, physical, decisional, and causal. Using these four dimensions of ‘closeness’ it became possible to describe how physicians, nurses, and relatives experience their involvement in cases of continuous sedation until death. More specifically, it shined a light on the everyday moral reasoning employed by care providers and relatives in the context of continuous sedation, and how this affected the emotional impact of being involved in sedation, as well as the perception of their own moral responsibility. Conclusion - Findings from this study demonstrate that various factors are reported to influence the degree of closeness to continuous sedation (and thus the extent to which carers feel morally responsible), and that some of these factors help care providers and relatives to distinguish continuous sedation from euthanasia.The Economic and Social Research Council (UK), the Research Foundation Flanders (BE), the Flemish Cancer Association (BE), the Research Council of Ghent University (BE), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NL) and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (NL)

Comparison principles for nonlinear potential theories and PDEs with fiberegularity and sufficient monotonicity

We present some recent advances in the productive and symbiotic interplay between general potential theories (subharmonic functions associated to closed subsets $\mathcal{F} \subset \mathcal{J}^2(X)$ of the 2-jets on $X \subset \mathbb{R}^n$ open) and subsolutions of degenerate elliptic and parabolic PDEs of the form $F(x,u,Du,D^2u) = 0$. We will implement the monotonicity-duality method begun by Harvey and Lawson in 2009 (in the pure second order constant coefficient case) for proving comparison principles for potential theories where $\mathcal{F}$ has sufficient monotonicity and fiberegularity (in variable coefficient settings) and which carry over to all differential operators $F$ which are compatible with $\mathcal{F}$ in a precise sense for which the correspondence principle holds. We will consider both elliptic and parabolic versions of the comparison principle in which the effect of boundary data is seen on the entire boundary or merely on a proper subset of the boundary. Particular attention will be given to gradient dependent examples with the requisite sufficient monotonicity of proper ellipticity and directionality in the gradient. Example operators we will discuss include the degenerate elliptic operators of optimal transport in which the target density is strictly increasing in some directions as well as operators which are weakly parabolic in the sense of Krylov. Further examples, modeled on hyperbolic polynomials in the sense of G\r{a}rding give a rich class of examples with directionality in the gradient. Moreover we present a model example in which the comparison principle holds, but standard viscosity structural conditions fail to hold.Comment: 52 page