An improved boundary force method for analyzing cracked anisotropic materials

The Boundary Force Method (BFM), a form of indirect boundary element method, is used to analyze composite laminates with cracks. The BFM uses the orthotropic elasticity solution for a concentrated horizontal and vertical force and a moment applied at a point in a cracked, infinite sheet as the fundamental solution. The necessary stress functions for this fundamental solution were formulated using the complex variable theory of orthotropic elasticity. The current method is an improvement over a previous method using only forces and no moment. The improved method was verified by comparing it to accepted solutions for a finite-width, center-crack specimen subjected to uniaxial tension. Four graphite/epoxy laminates were used: (0 + or - 45/90)sub s, (0), (+ or - 45)sub s, and (+ or - 30)sub s. The BFM results agreed well with accepted solutions. Convergence studies showed that with the addition of the moment in the fundamental solution, the number of boundary elements required for a converged solution was significantly reduced. Parametric studies were done for two configurations for which no orthotropic solutions are currently available; a single edge crack and an inclined single edge crack

Observations of HONO by laser-induced fluorescence at the South Pole during ANTCI 2003

Observations of nitrous acid (HONO) by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) at the South Pole taken during the Antarctic Troposphere Chemistry Investigation (ANTCI), which took place over the time period of Nov. 15, 2003 to Jan. 4, 2004, are presented here. The median observed mixing ratio of HONO 10 m above the snow was 5.8 pptv (mean value 6.3 pptv) with a maximum of 18.2 pptv on Nov 30th, Dec 1st, 3rd, 15th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 27th and 28th. The measurement uncertainty is ±35%. The LIF HONO observations are compared to concurrent HONO observations performed by mist chamber/ion chromatography (MC/IC). The HONO levels reported by MC/IC are about 7.2 ± 2.3 times higher than those reported by LIF. Citation: Liao, W., A. T. Case, J. Mastromarino, D. Tan, and J. E. Dibb (2006), Observations of HONO by laser-induced fluorescence at the South Pole during ANTCI 2003, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L09810, doi:10.1029/2005GL025470

A Low-Dimensional Model for the Maximal Amplification Factor of Bichromatic Wave Groups

We consider a low-dimensional model derived from the nonlinear-Schrödinger equation that describes the evolution of a special class of surface gravity wave groups, namely bichromatic waves. The model takes only two modes into account, namely the primary mode and the third order mode which is known to be most relevant for bichromatic waves with small frequency difference. Given an initial condition, an analytical expression for the maximal amplitude of the evolution of this initial wave group according to the model can be readily obtained. The aim of this investigation is to predict the amplification factor defined as the quotient between the maximal amplitude over all time & space and the initial maximal amplitude. Although this is a problem of general interest, as a case study, initial conditions in the form of a bichromatic wave group are taken. Using the low dimensional model it is found that the least upper bound of the maximal amplification factor for this bichromatic wave group is √2. To validate the analytical results of this model, a numerical simulation on the full model is also performed. As can be expected, good agreement is observed between analytical and numerical solutions for a certain range of parameters; when the initial amplitude is not too large, or when the difference of frequency is not too small. The results are relevant and motivated for the generation of waves in hydrodynamic laboratories

Optimal sizing and techno-economic analysis of grid-connected nanogrid for tropical climates of the savannah

Reliability and costs are mainly considered in performance analysis of renewable energy-based distributed grids. Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Renewables was used in techno-economic analysis of renewable energy systems involving photovoltaics, wind, diesel and storage in tropical regions of Amazon, Central Asia and Mediterranean. In a study for a Guinea Savannah region, 70% of renewable energy fraction was achieved. However, levelized cost of energy of 0.689 $/kWh was higher than tariff rate of 0.6$/kWh. This paper considers Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Renewables to achieve lower levelized cost of energy and net present costs of a nanogrid for increased reliability and low per capita energy consumption of 150 kWh in a Sudan Savannah region of Nigeria. The proposed grid connected nanogrid aims to serve daily residential demand of 355 kWh. A range of 0.0110 $/kWh to 0.0095$/kWh and $366,210 to$288,680 as negative values of levelized cost of energy and net present cost respectively were realized, implying potentials for a large grid export. The renewable energy fraction of up to 98% was also achieved in addition to low greenhouse gas emission of 2,328 tons/year. The results may further be consolidated with strategies for power dispatch and load scheduling

Lensing-Induced Structure of Submillimeter Sources: Implications for the Microwave Background

We consider the effect of lensing by galaxy clusters on the angular distribution of submillimeter wavelength objects. While lensing does not change the total flux and number counts of submillimeter sources, it can affect the number counts and fluxes of flux-limited samples. Therefore imposing a flux cut on point sources not only reduces the overall Poisson noise, but imprints the correlations between lensing clusters on the unresolved flux distribution. Using a simple model, we quantify the lensing anisotropy induced in flux-limited samples and compare this to Poisson noise. We find that while the level of induced anisotropies on the scale of the cluster angular correlation length is comparable to Poisson noise for a slowly evolving cluster model, it is negligible for more realistic models of cluster evolution. Thus the removal of point sources is not expected to induce measurable structure in the microwave or far-infrared backgrounds.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Astrophysical Journa

Significant differences in incubation times in sheep infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy result from variation at codon 141 in the PRNP gene

The susceptibility of sheep to prion infection is linked to variation in the PRNP gene, which encodes the prion protein. Common polymorphisms occur at codons 136, 154 and 171. Sheep which are homozygous for the A<sub>136</sub>R<sub>154</sub>Q<sub>171</sub> allele are the most susceptible to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The effect of other polymorphisms on BSE susceptibility is unknown. We orally infected ARQ/ARQ Cheviot sheep with equal amounts of BSE brain homogenate and a range of incubation periods was observed. When we segregated sheep according to the amino acid (L or F) encoded at codon 141 of the PRNP gene, the shortest incubation period was observed in LL141 sheep, whilst incubation periods in FF<sub>141</sub> and LF<sub>141</sub> sheep were significantly longer. No statistically significant differences existed in the expression of total prion protein or the disease-associated isoform in BSE-infected sheep within each genotype subgroup. This suggested that the amino acid encoded at codon 141 probably affects incubation times through direct effects on protein misfolding rates