Manufacturing processes for fabricating graphite/PMR 15 polyimide structural elements

Investigations were conducted to obtain commercially available graphite/PMR-15 polyimide prepreg, develop an autoclave manufacturing process, and demonstrate the process by manufacturing structural elements. Controls were established on polymer, prepreg, composite fabrication, and quality assurance, Successful material quality control and processes were demonstrated by fabricating major structural elements including flat laminates, hat sections, I beam sections, honeycomb sandwich structures, and molded graphite reinforced fittings. Successful fabrication of structural elements and simulated section of the space shuttle aft body flap shows that the graphite/PMR-15 polyimide system and the developed processes are ready for further evaluation in flight test hardware

Material flow during the extrusion of simple and complex cross-sections using FEM

This paper deals with the extrusion of rod and shape sections and uses a 3D finite element model analysis (FEM) to predict the effect of die geometry on maximum extrusion load. A description of material flow in the container is considered in more detail for rod and shape sections in order to fully comprehend the transient conditions occurring during the process cycle. A comparison with experiments is made to assess the relative importance of some extrusion parameters in the extrusion process and to ensure that the numerical discretisation yields a realistic simulation of the process. The usefulness and the limitation of FEM are discussed when modelling complex shapes. Results are presented for velocity contours and shear stress distribution during the extrusion process. It is shown that for most of the shapes investigated, the material making up the extrudate cross-sections originates from differing regions of virgin material within the billet. The outside surface of the extrudate originates from the material moving along the dead metal zone (DMZ) and the core of the extrudate from the central deformation zone. The FE program appears to predict all the major characteristics of the flow observed macroscopically

Material flow during the extrusion of simple and complex cross-sections using FEM

This paper deals with the extrusion of rod and shape sections and uses a 3D finite element model analysis (FEM) to predict the effect of die geometry on maximum extrusion load. A description of material flow in the container is considered in more detail for rod and shape sections in order to fully comprehend the transient conditions occurring during the process cycle. A comparison with experiments is made to assess the relative importance of some extrusion parameters in the extrusion process and to ensure that the numerical discretisation yields a realistic simulation of the process. The usefulness and the limitation of FEM are discussed when modelling complex shapes. Results are presented for velocity contours and shear stress distribution during the extrusion process. It is shown that for most of the shapes investigated, the material making up the extrudate cross-sections originates from differing regions of virgin material within the billet. The outside surface of the extrudate originates from the material moving along the dead metal zone (DMZ) and the core of the extrudate from the central deformation zone. The FE program appears to predict all the major characteristics of the flow observed macroscopically

Thermal simulation of magnetization reversals for size-distributed assemblies of core-shell exchange biased nanoparticles

A temperature dependent coherent magnetization reversal model is proposed for size-distributed assemblies of ferromagnetic nanoparticles and ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic core-shell nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are assumed to be of uniaxial anisotropy and all aligned along their easy axis. The thermal dependence is included by considering thermal fluctuations, implemented via the N\'eel-Arrhenius theory. Thermal and angular dependence of magnetization reversal loops, coercive field and exchange-bias field are obtained, showing that F-AF size-distributed exchange-coupled nanoparticles exhibit temperature-dependent asymmetric magnetization reversal. Also, non-monotonic evolutions of He and Hc with T are demonstrated. The angular dependence of Hc with T exhibits a complex behavior, with the presence of an apex, whose position and amplitude are strongly T dependent. The angular dependence of He with T exhibits complex behaviors, which depends on the AF anisotropy and exchange coupling. The resulting angular behavior demonstrates the key role of the size distribution and temperature in the magnetic response of nanoparticles.Comment: Revised arguments in Introduction and last sectio

The focus of light - linear polarization breaks the rotational symmetry of the focal spot

We experimentally demonstrate for the first time that a linearly polarized beam is focussed to an asymmetric spot when using a high-numerical aperture focussing system. This asymmetry was predicted by Richards and Wolf [Proc.R.Soc.London A, 253, 358 (1959)] and can only be measured when a polarization insensitive sensor is placed in the focal region. We used a specially modified photodiode in a knife edge type set up to obtain highly resolved images of the total electric energy density distribution at the focus. The results are in good agreement with the predictions of a vectorial focussing theory.Comment: to be published in "Journal of Modern Optics

The Anti-Coincidence Detector for the GLAST Large Area Telescope

This paper describes the design, fabrication and testing of the Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD) for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT). The ACD is LAT first-level defense against the charged cosmic ray background that outnumbers the gamma rays by 3-5 orders of magnitude. The ACD covers the top and 4 sides of the LAT tracking detector, requiring a total active area of ~8.3 square meters. The ACD detector utilizes plastic scintillator tiles with wave-length shifting fiber readout. In order to suppress self-veto by shower particles at high gamma-ray energies, the ACD is segmented into 89 tiles of different sizes. The overall ACD efficiency for detection of singly charged relativistic particles entering the tracking detector from the top or sides of the LAT exceeds the required 0.9997.Comment: 33 pages, 19 figure