70,001 research outputs found
Demonstration of the feasibility of automated silicon solar cell fabrication
A study effort was undertaken to determine the process, steps and design requirements of an automated silicon solar cell production facility. Identification of the key process steps was made and a laboratory model was conceptually designed to demonstrate the feasibility of automating the silicon solar cell fabrication process. A detailed laboratory model was designed to demonstrate those functions most critical to the question of solar cell fabrication process automating feasibility. The study and conceptual design have established the technical feasibility of automating the solar cell manufacturing process to produce low cost solar cells with improved performance. Estimates predict an automated process throughput of 21,973 kilograms of silicon a year on a three shift 49-week basis, producing 4,747,000 hexagonal cells (38mm/side), a total of 3,373 kilowatts at an estimated manufacturing cost of 1.22 per watt
Inverse Scattering and Acousto-Optic Imaging
We propose a tomographic method to reconstruct the optical properties of a
highly-scattering medium from incoherent acousto-optic measurements. The method
is based on the solution to an inverse problem for the diffusion equation and
makes use of the principle of interior control of boundary measurements by an
external wave field.Comment: 10 page
Importance of an Astrophysical Perspective for Textbook Relativity
The importance of a teaching a clear definition of the ``observer'' in
special relativity is highlighted using a simple astrophysical example from the
exciting current research area of ``Gamma-Ray Burst'' astrophysics. The example
shows that a source moving relativistically toward a single observer at rest
exhibits a time ``contraction'' rather than a ``dilation'' because the light
travel time between the source and observer decreases with time. Astrophysical
applications of special relativity complement idealized examples with real
applications and very effectively exemplify the role of a finite light travel
time.Comment: 5 pages TeX, European Journal of Physics, in pres
Eastern Range Extension of \u3ci\u3eLeptoglossus Occidentalis\u3c/i\u3e With a Key to Leptoglossus Species of America North of Mexico (Heteroptera: Coreidae)
Leptoglossus occidentalis is reported for the first time from Illinois and Michigan, and confirmed for Indiana. A key to the species of Leptoglossus occurring in America north of Mexico is presented
Optimal Constraint Projection for Hyperbolic Evolution Systems
Techniques are developed for projecting the solutions of symmetric hyperbolic
evolution systems onto the constraint submanifold (the constraint-satisfying
subset of the dynamical field space). These optimal projections map a field
configuration to the ``nearest'' configuration in the constraint submanifold,
where distances between configurations are measured with the natural metric on
the space of dynamical fields. The construction and use of these projections is
illustrated for a new representation of the scalar field equation that exhibits
both bulk and boundary generated constraint violations. Numerical simulations
on a black-hole background show that bulk constraint violations cannot be
controlled by constraint-preserving boundary conditions alone, but are
effectively controlled by constraint projection. Simulations also show that
constraint violations entering through boundaries cannot be controlled by
constraint projection alone, but are controlled by constraint-preserving
boundary conditions. Numerical solutions to the pathological scalar field
system are shown to converge to solutions of a standard representation of the
scalar field equation when constraint projection and constraint-preserving
boundary conditions are used together.Comment: final version with minor changes; 16 pages, 14 figure
An experimental investigation of chatter effects on tool life
Tool wear is one of the most important considerations in machining operations as it affects surface quality and integrity, productivity and cost. The most commonly used model for tool life analysis is the one proposed by F.W. Taylor about a century ago. Although the extended form of this equation includes the effects of important cutting conditions on tool wear, tool life studies are mostly performed under stable cutting conditions where the effect of chatter vibrations are not considered. This paper presents an empirical attempt to understand tool life under vibratory cutting conditions. Tool wear data are collected in turning and milling on different work materials under stable and chatter conditions. The effects of cutting conditions as well as severity of chatter on tool life are analyzed. The results indicate significant reduction in tool life due to chatter as expected. They also show that the severity of chatter, and thus the vibration amplitude, strongly reduces the life of cutting tools. These results can be useful in evaluating the real cost of chatter by including the reduced tool life. They can also be useful in justifying the cost of chatter suppression and more rigid machining systems
A model problem for the initial-boundary value formulation of Einstein's field equations
In many numerical implementations of the Cauchy formulation of Einstein's
field equations one encounters artificial boundaries which raises the issue of
specifying boundary conditions. Such conditions have to be chosen carefully. In
particular, they should be compatible with the constraints, yield a well posed
initial-boundary value formulation and incorporate some physically desirable
properties like, for instance, minimizing reflections of gravitational
radiation.
Motivated by the problem in General Relativity, we analyze a model problem,
consisting of a formulation of Maxwell's equations on a spatially compact
region of spacetime with timelike boundaries. The form in which the equations
are written is such that their structure is very similar to the
Einstein-Christoffel symmetric hyperbolic formulations of Einstein's field
equations. For this model problem, we specify a family of Sommerfeld-type
constraint-preserving boundary conditions and show that the resulting
initial-boundary value formulations are well posed. We expect that these
results can be generalized to the Einstein-Christoffel formulations of General
Relativity, at least in the case of linearizations about a stationary
background.Comment: 25 page
Drip Paintings and Fractal Analysis
It has been claimed [1-6] that fractal analysis can be applied to
unambiguously characterize works of art such as the drip paintings of Jackson
Pollock. This academic issue has become of more general interest following the
recent discovery of a cache of disputed Pollock paintings. We definitively
demonstrate here, by analyzing paintings by Pollock and others, that fractal
criteria provide no information about artistic authenticity. This work has also
led to two new results in fractal analysis of more general scientific
significance. First, the composite of two fractals is not generally scale
invariant and exhibits complex multifractal scaling in the small distance
asymptotic limit. Second the statistics of box-counting and related staircases
provide a new way to characterize geometry and distinguish fractals from
Euclidean objects
Composition and luminescence studies of InGaN epilayers grown at different hydrogen flow rates
Indium gallium nitride (In(x)Ga(1-x)N) is a technologically important material for many optoelectronic devices, including LEDs and solar cells, but it remains a challenge to incorporate high levels of InN into the alloy while maintaining sample quality. A series of InGaN epilayers was grown with different hydrogen flow rates (0-200 sccm) and growth temperatures (680-750 °C) to obtain various InN fractions and bright emission in the range 390-480 nm. These 160-nm thick epilayers were characterized through several compositional techniques (wavelength dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry) and cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging. The compositional analysis with the different techniques shows good agreement when taking into account compositional gradients evidenced in these layers. The addition of small amounts of hydrogen to the gas flow at lower growth temperatures is shown to maintain a high surface quality and luminescence homogeneity. This allowed InN fractions of up to ~16% to be incorporated with minimal peak energy variations over a mapped area while keeping a high material quality
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