22,097 research outputs found
Service Performance Indicators for Infrastructure Investment
Infrastructure systems serving modern economies are highly complex, highly interconnected, and often highly
interactive. The result is increased complexity in investment decision-making, and increased challenges in prioritising
that investment. However, this prioritisation is vital to developing a long-term, sound, robust and achievable pipeline
of national infrastructure.
One key to effective, objective and prudent investment prioritisation is understanding the real performance of
infrastructure. Many metrics are employed to this end, and many are imposed by governments or regulators, but
often these metrics relate only to inputs or outputs in a production process. Whilst these metrics may be useful for
delivery agencies, they largely fail to address the real expectations or requirements of infrastructure users — quality of
service, safety, reliability, and resilience.
What is required is a set of metrics which address not outputs but outcomes — that is, how well does the
infrastructure network meet service needs? This paper reports on a study undertaken at a national level, to identify
service needs across a range of infrastructure sectors, to assess service performance metrics in use, and to show
how they or other suitable metrics can be used to prioritise investment decisions across sectors and jurisdictions
Liquid mixtures involving fluorinated alcohols: The equation of state (p, r, T, x) of (Ethanol + Trifluoroethanol) Experimental and Simulation
Liquid mixtures involving fluorinated alcohols:
The equation of state (p, r, T, x) of (Ethanol + Trifluoroethanol)
Experimental and Simulation
Pedro Duartea, Djêide Rodriguesa, Marcelo Silvaa, Pedro Morgadoa,
Luís Martinsa,b and Eduardo J. M. Filipea*
aCentro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
bCentro de Química de Évora, Universidade de Évora, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
Fluorinated alcohols are substances with unique properties and high technological value in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Trifluoroethanol (TFE), in particular, displays a number of unusual properties as a solvent. For example, it dissolves nylon at room temperature and is effectively used as solvent in bioengineering. The presence of the three fluorines atoms gives the alcohol a high ionization constant, strong hydrogen bonding capability and stability at high temperatures.
In the pharmaceutical industry, TFE finds use as the major raw material for the production of inhalation anesthetics. Mixtures of TFE and water (known as Fluorinols®) are used as working fluids for Rankine cycle heat engines for terrestrial and space applications, as a result of a unique combination of physical and thermodynamic properties such as high thermal efficiency and excellent turbine expansion characteristics.
Environmentally, TFE is a CFC substitute with an acceptable short lifetime and with small ozone depletion potential. Additionally, TFE is known to induce conformational changes in proteins and it is used as a co-solvent to analyze structural features of partially folded states.
The (ethanol + TFE) system displays an interesting and peculiar behaviour, combining a negative azeotrope with high positive excess volumes.
In this work, liquid mixtures of (ethanol + TFE) were investigated. The densities of the mixtures were measured as a function of composition between 278K and 338K and at pressures up to 700 bar. The corresponding excess volumes as a function of temperature and pressure, the isothermal compressibilities and thermal expansivities were calculated from the experimental results. The mixtures are highly non-ideal with excess volumes ranging from 0.8 - 1.0 cm3mol-1.
Finally, molecular dynamic simulations were performed to model and interpret the experimental results. The Trappe force field was used to simulate the (TFE + ethanol) mixtures and calculate the corresponding excess volumes. The simulation results are able to reproduce the correct sign and order of magnitude of the experimental VE without fitting to the experimental data. Furthermore, the simulations suggest the presence of a particular type of hydrogen bridge between ethanol and TFE, that can help to rationalize the experimental results
Superconducting charge qubits from a microscopic many-body perspective
The quantised Josephson junction equation that underpins the behaviour of
charge qubits and other tunnel devices is usually derived through cannonical
quantisation of the classical macroscopic Josephson relations. However, this
approach may neglect effects due to the fact that the charge qubit consists of
a superconducting island of finite size connected to a large superconductor.
We show that the well known quantised Josephson equation can be derived
directly and simply from a microscopic many-body Hamiltonian. By choosing the
appropriate strong coupling limit we produce a highly simplified Hamiltonian
that nevertheless allows us to go beyond the mean field limit and predict
further finite-size terms in addition to the basic equation.Comment: Accepted for J Phys Condensed Matte
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Solid Freeform Fabrication of Functional Silicon Nitride Ceramics by Laminated Object Manufacturing 1
The processing of silicon nitride (Si3N4) structural ceramics by Laminated Object
Manufacturing (LOM) using ceramic tape preforms was investigated. The key processing stages
involved green shape formation (which used the LOM process), followed by the burnout of all
organics, and final densification by pressureless sintering. Two material systems were
considered. These were a) monolithic Si3N4 and b) a preceramic polymer infiltrated Si3N4. The
raw materials for the process were tape preforms of Si3N4, which were fabricated by standard
tape casting techniques.
Mechanical property data obtained for the LOM processed Si3N4 showed high strength and
fracture toughness values. The room temperature and high temperature (1260 o
C) flexural
strengths were in the range of 700-900 MPa and 360-400 MPa, respectively. The fracture
toughness averaged from 5.5-7.5 MPa.m1/2. These strength and fracture toughness values are
comparable to those reported for conventionally prepared Si3N4 ceramics. Thus, this research
demonstrated that the LOM technique is a viable method for preparing functional Si3N4 ceramics
with good physical and mechanical properties.Mechanical Engineerin
Noise properties of two single electron transistors coupled by a nanomechanical resonator
We analyze the noise properties of two single electron transistors (SETs)
coupled via a shared voltage gate consisting of a nanomechanical resonator.
Working in the regime where the resonator can be treated as a classical system,
we find that the SETs act on the resonator like two independent heat baths. The
coupling to the resonator generates positive correlations in the currents
flowing through each of the SETs as well as between the two currents. In the
regime where the dynamics of the resonator is dominated by the back-action of
the SETs, these positive correlations can lead to parametrically large
enhancements of the low frequency current noise. These noise properties can be
understood in terms of the effects on the SET currents of fluctuations in the
state of a resonator in thermal equilibrium which persist for times of order
the resonator damping time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Generalization of Dirac Non-Linear Electrodynamics, and Spinning Charged Particles
In this note we generalized the Dirac non-linear electrodynamics, by
introducing two potentials (namely, the vector potential A and the
pseudo-vector potential gamma^5 B of the electromagnetic theory with charges
and magnetic monopoles) and by imposing the pseudoscalar part of the product
omega.omega* to be zero, with omega = A + gamma^5 B. We show that the field
equations of such a theory possess a soliton-like solution which can represent
a priori a "charged particle", since it is endowed with a Coulomb field plus
the field of a magnetic dipole. The rest energy of the soliton is finite, and
the angular momentum stored in its electromagnetic field can be identified
--for suitable choices of the parameters-- with the spin of the charged
particle. Thus this approach seems to yield a classical model for the charged
(spinning) particle, which does not meet the problems met by earlier attempts
in the same direction.Comment: standard LaTeX file; 16 pages; it is a corrected version of a paper
appeared in Found. Phys. (issue in honour of A.O.Barut) 23 (1993) 46
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