6,039 research outputs found
Space Shuttle/TDRSS communication and tracking systems analysis
In order to evaluate the technical and operational problem areas and provide a recommendation, the enhancements to the Tracking and Data Delay Satellite System (TDRSS) and Shuttle must be evaluated through simulation and analysis. These enhancement techniques must first be characterized, then modeled mathematically, and finally updated into LinCsim (analytical simulation package). The LinCsim package can then be used as an evaluation tool. Three areas of potential enhancements were identified: shuttle payload accommodations, TDRSS SSA and KSA services, and shuttle tracking system and navigation sensors. Recommendations for each area were discussed
Coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanical analyses of the Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test-Comparison of field measurements to predictions of four different numerical models
The Yucca Mountain Drift Scale Test (DST) is a multiyear, large-scale underground heating test designed to study coupled thermal–hydrological–mechanical–chemical behavior in unsaturated fractured and welded tuff. As part of the international cooperative code-comparison project DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments, four research teams used four different numerical models to simulate and predict coupled thermal–hydrological–mechanical (THM) processes at the DST. The simulated processes included heat transfer, liquid and vapor water movements, rock-mass stress and displacement, and stress-induced changes in fracture permeability. Model predictions were evaluated by comparison to measurements of temperature, water saturation, displacement, and air permeability. The generally good agreement between simulated and measured THM data shows that adopted continuum model approaches are adequate for simulating relevant coupled THM processes at the DST. Moreover, thermal-mechanically induced rock-mass deformations were reasonably well predicted using elastic models, although some individual displacements appeared to be better captured using an elasto-plastic model. It is concluded that fracture closure/opening caused by change in normal stress across fractures is the dominant mechanism for thermal-stress-induced changes in intrinsic fracture permeability at the DST, whereas fracture shear dilation appears to be less significant. This indicates that such changes in intrinsic permeability at the DST, which are within one order of magnitude, are likely to be mostly reversible
Long-range surface plasmon polariton excitation at the quantum level
We provide the quantum mechanical description of the excitation of long-range
surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) on thin metallic strips. The excitation
process consists of an attenuated-reflection setup, where efficient
photon-to-LRSPP wavepacket-transfer is shown to be achievable. For calculating
the coupling, we derive the first quantization of LRSPPs in the polaritonic
regime. We study quantum statistics during propagation and characterize the
performance of photon-to-LRSPP quantum state transfer for single-photons,
photon-number states and photonic coherent superposition states.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX4; Accepted versio
On Determining Dead Layer and Detector Thicknesses for a Position-Sensitive Silicon Detector
In this work, two particular properties of the position-sensitive, thick
silicon detectors (known as the "E" detectors) in the High Resolution Array
(HiRA) are investigated: the thickness of the dead layer on the front of the
detector, and the overall thickness of the detector itself. The dead layer
thickness for each E detector in HiRA is extracted using a measurement of alpha
particles emitted from a Pb pin source placed close to the detector
surface. This procedure also allows for energy calibrations of the E detectors,
which are otherwise inaccessible for alpha source calibration as each one is
sandwiched between two other detectors. The E detector thickness is obtained
from a combination of elastically scattered protons and an energy-loss
calculation method. Results from these analyses agree with values provided by
the manufacturer.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in
Physics Researc
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