1,689 research outputs found
Thermally adaptive building covering field test
This paper represents the first public exhibition of Thermadapt⢠building coverings which were invented more than eight years ago. The paper starts with a brief overview of the field of adaptive materials and their applications in various industries. Thermally adaptive building covering sheet fundamentals are explained by laying out the basic structural mechanics of thermally induced gross shape changes in lamina. As a truncated paper, the driving theory, coupon, test chamber and subscale building data could not be included due to length constraints, but will be delivered during oral presentation. Nonetheless, data from outdoor range testing on three independent buildings is presented. These three buildings measuring 1.8m (6 ft) deep x 2.4m (8 ft) wide x 2.1m (7 ft) high showed excellent results. The first was outfitted with Thermadapt⢠siding and roofing. The second was outfitted with a variety of different amounts of insulation. The third was used as a control. The configuration of the full-scale test range buildings is shown along with performance data in all midwestern seasons. The data demonstrated that thin thermally adaptive building coverings are as effective as 27 cm (10.5â) of fiberglass insulation, indicating an equivalent R-value of more than 40/cm (100/in). The paper concludes with an overview of the economics of Thermadapt⢠building coverings and the intellectual property landscape
Total Opacity of Local Group Galaxies and Large Scale Structure behind the Galactic Bulge
Recently, we have developed and calibrated the Synthetic Field Method to
derive total extinction through disk galaxies. The method is based on the
number counts and colors of distant background field galaxies that can be seen
through the foreground object. Here, we investigate how large (10-m) and very
large (20 to 30-m), diffraction-limited, optical and infrared telescopes in
space would improve the detection of background galaxies behind Local Group
objects, including the Galactic bulge. We find that, besides and perhaps more
important than telescope size, a well-behaved, well-characterized PSF would
facilitate in general the detection of faint objects in crowded fields, and
greatly benefit several other important research areas, like the search for
extrasolar planets, the study of quasar hosts and, most relevant for this
meeting, the surveying of nearby large scale structure in the Zone of
Avoidance, in particular behind the Galactic bulge.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, uses asp2004.sty. To appear in ``Nearby
Large-Scale Structures and the Zone of Avoidance,'' eds. A.P. Fairall, P.
Woudt, ASP Conf. Series, in press, San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the
Pacifi
The Opacity of Spiral Galaxy Disks IV: Radial Extinction Profiles from Counts of Distant Galaxies seen through Foreground Disks
Dust extinction can be determined from the number of distant field galaxies
seen through a spiral disk. To calibrate this number for the crowding and
confusion introduced by the foreground image, Gonzalez et al.(1998) and
Holwerda et al. (2005) developed the ``Synthetic Field Method'' (SFM), which
analyses synthetic fields constructed by adding various deep exposures of
unobstructed background fields to the candidate foreground galaxy field.
The advantage of the SFM is that it gives the average opacity for area of
galaxy disk without assumptions about either the distribution of absorbers or
of the disk starlight. However it is limited by low statistics of the surviving
field galaxies, hence the need to combine a larger sample of fields. This paper
presents the first results for a sample of 32 deep HST/WFPC2 archival fields of
29 spirals.
The radial profiles of average dust extinction in spiral galaxies based on
calibrated counts of distant field galaxies is presented here, both for
individual galaxies as well as for composites from our sample. The effects of
inclination, spiral arms and Hubble type on the radial extinction profile are
discussed. (Abbreviated)Comment: 43 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in the
Astronomical Journal, (typos, table update, updates abstract
Design, Manufacturing and Test of a High Lift Secondary Flight Control Surface with Shape Memory Alloy Post-Buckled Precompressed Actuators
The use of morphing components on aerospace structures can greatly increase the versatility of an aircraft. This paper presents the design, manufacturing and testing of a new kind of adaptive airfoil with actuation through Shape Memory Alloys (SMA). The developed adaptive flap system makes use of a novel actuator that employs SMA wires in an antagonistic arrangement with a Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) mechanism. SMA actuators are usually used in an antagonistic arrangement or are arranged to move structural components with linearly varying resistance levels similar to springs. Unfortunately, most of this strain energy is spent doing work on the passive structure rather than performing the task at hand, like moving a flight control surface or resisting air loads. A solution is the use of Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) actuators that are arranged so that the active elements do not waste energy fighting passive structural stiffnesses. One major problem with PBP actuators is that the low tensile strength of the piezoelectric elements can often result in tensile failure of the actuator on the convex face. A solution to this problem is the use of SMA as actuator material due to their tolerance of tensile stresses. The power consumption to hold deflections is reduced by approximately 20% with the Post-Buckled Precompressed mechanism. Conventional SMAs are essentially non-starters for many classes of aircraft due to the requirement of holding the flight control surfaces in a given position for extremely long times to trim the vehicle. For the reason that PBP actuators balance out air and structural loads, the steady-state load on the SMAs is essentially negligible, when properly designed. Simulations and experiments showed that the SMAPBP actuator shows tip rotations on the order of 45°, which is nearly triple the levels achieved by piezoelectric PBP actuators. The developed SMAPBP actuator was integrated in a NACA0012 airfoil with a flexible skin to carry out wind tunnel tests
Moisture interaction and stability of ZOT (Zinc Orthotitanate) thermal control spacecraft coating
Two of the many performance requirements of the zinc orthotitanate (ZOT) ceramic thermal control paint covering parts of the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft are that it be sufficiently electrically conductive so as to prevent electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage to onboard electronics and that it adhere to and protect the substrate from corrosion in terrestrial environments. The bulk electrical resistivity of ZOT on an aluminum substrate was measured over the ranges 22 C to 90 C and 0 percent RH to 100 percent RH, and also in soft (10 (minus 2) Torr) and hard (10 (minus 7) Torr) vacuums. No significant temperature dependence was evident, but measured resistivity values ranged over 9 orders of magnitude: 10 to the 5th power ohm-cm at 100 percent RH greater than 10 to the 12th power ohm-cm in a hard vacuum. The latter value violates the ESD criterion for a typical 0.019 cm thick coating. The corrosion study involved exposing typical ZOT substrate combinations to two moisture environments - 30 C/85 percent RH and 85 C/85 percent RH - for 2000 hours, during which time the samples were periodically removed for front-to-back electrical resistance and scratch/peel test measurements. It was determined that the ZOT/Al and ZOT/Mg systems are stable (no ZOT delamination), although some corrosion (oxide formation) and resistivity increases observed among the ZOT/Mg samples warrant that exposure of some parts to humid environments be minimized
MEMS 411: Giant Pouched Rat Trap
Dr. Braude from the Biology department at Washington University in St. Louis is currently working on a project training giant Gambian pouched rats to find mines and other bombs in former conflict zones. In order to trap Gambian pouched rats, Professor Braude asked a few MEMS 411 Senior Design groups to design and build a trap that can safely capture the rats. The trap had to be about 2-3 feet long, 6 inches in diameter, completely mechanical, simple, and it had to cost less than 30 USD to build
From SMART to agent systems development
In order for agent-oriented software engineering to prove effective it must use principled notions of agents and enabling specification and reasoning, while still considering routes to practical implementation. This paper deals with the issue of individual agent specification and construction, departing from the conceptual basis provided by the SMART agent framework. SMART offers a descriptive specification of an agent architecture but omits consideration of issues relating to construction and control. In response, we introduce two new views to complement SMART: a behavioural specification and a structural specification which, together, determine the components that make up an agent, and how they operate. In this way, we move from abstract agent system specification to practical implementation. These three aspects are combined to create an agent construction model, actSMART, which is then used to define the AgentSpeak(L) architecture in order to illustrate the application of actSMART
- âŚ