Validation of scramjet exhaust simulation technique at Mach 6

Current design philosophy for hydrogen-fueled, scramjet-powered hypersonic aircraft results in configurations with strong couplings between the engine plume and vehicle aerodynamics. The experimental verification of the scramjet exhaust simulation is described. The scramjet exhaust was reproduced for the Mach 6 flight condition by the detonation tube simulator. The exhaust flow pressure profiles, and to a large extent the heat transfer rate profiles, were then duplicated by cool gas mixtures of Argon and Freon 13B1 or Freon 12. The results of these experiments indicate that a cool gas simulation of the hot scramjet exhaust is a viable simulation technique except for phenomena which are dependent on the wall temperature relative to flow temperature

Validation of scramjet exhaust simulation technique

Scramjet/airframe integration design philosophy for hypersonic aircraft results in configurations having lower aft surfaces that serve as exhaust nozzles. There is a strong coupling between the exhaust plume and the aerodynamics of the vehicle, making accurate simulation of the engine exhaust mandatory. The experimental verification of the simulation procedure is described. The detonation tube simulator was used to produce an exact simulation of the scramjet exhaust for a Mach 8 flight condition. The pressure distributions produced by the exact exhaust flow were then duplicated by a cool mixture Argon and Freon 13B1. Such a substitute gas mixture validated by the detonation tube technique could be used in conventional wind tunnel tests. The results presented show the substitute gas simulation technique to be valid for shockless expansions

State detection using coherent Raman repumping and two-color Raman transfers

We demonstrate state detection based on coherent Raman repumping and a two-color Raman state transfer. The Raman coupling during detection selectively eliminates unwanted dark states in the fluorescence cycle without compromising the immunity of the desired dark state to off-resonant scattering. We demonstrate this technique using $^{137}\mathrm{Ba}^+$ where a combination of Raman coupling and optical pumping leaves the $D_{3/2}$ $\ket{F"=3,m_F"=3}$ metastable state optically dark and immune to off-resonant scattering. All other states are strongly coupled to the upper $P_{1/2}$ levels. We achieve a single shot state-detection efficiency of $89.6(3)$ in a $1\mathrm{ms}$ integration time, limited almost entirely by technical imperfections. Shelving to the $\ket{F"=3,m_F"=3}$ state before detection is performed via a two-color Raman transfer with a fidelity of $1.00(3)$

Towards an agent-based framework for online after-sales services

The multi-agent paradigm for building intelligent systems has gradually been accepted by researchers and practitioners in the research field of artificial intelligence. There are also attempts of adapting agents and agent-based systems for creating industrial applications and providing e-services. In this paper, we present an attempt to use agents for constructing an online after-sale services system. The system is decomposed into four major cooperative agents, and in which each agent concentrates on particular aspects in the system and expresses intelligence by using various techniques. The proposed agent-based framework for the system is presented at both the micro-level and the macro-level according to the Gaia methodology. UML notations are also used to represent some software design models. As the result of this, agents are implemented into a framework for which exploits Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) technique to fulfil real life on-line services' diagnoses and tasks

Micro-evaporators for kinetic exploration of phase diagrams

We use pervaporation-based microfluidic devices to concentrate species in aqueous solutions with spatial and temporal control of the process. Using experiments and modelling, we quantitatively describe the advection-diffusion behavior of the concentration field of various solutions (electrolytes, colloids, etc) and demonstrate the potential of these devices as universal tools for the kinetic exploration of the phases and textures that form upon concentration

Effective estimation of the desired-signal subspace and its application to robust adaptive beamforming

An effective method is proposed to estimate the desired-signal (S) subspace by the intersection between the signal-plus-interference (SI) subspace and a reference space covering the angular region where the desired signal is located. The estimated S subspace is robust to steering vector mismatch and overestimation of the SI subspace, capable of detecting the relative strength of the desired signal. And even the basis of the estimated S subspace can serve as an effective estimation of the steering vector of the desired signal. With these properties, the estimated S subspace can help to select a more accurate narrow area for searching for the steering vector of the desired signal in mismatch cases. The proposed method is applied for robust adaptive beamforming with an improved performance, as demonstrated by simulation results

Seismic Modeling and Incremental Dynamic Analysis of the Cold-Formed Steel Framed CFS-NEES Building

The objective of this paper is to present seismic modeling of a two-story cold-formed steel (CFS) framed building. The selected building, known as the CFSNEES building, was designed to current U.S. standards and then subjected to full-scale shake table tests under the U.S. National Science Foundation Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program. Test results showed that the building’s stiffness and capacity was considerably higher than expected and the building suffered only non-structural damage and no permanent drift, even at maximum considered earthquake (per ASCE 7 and the selected California site) level. Past modeling, including that of the authors, largely focused on nonlinear hysteretic modeling of the shear walls. The test results indicate that additional building elements must be considered to develop an accurate characterization of the strength, stiffness, and ductility of the building. Advanced 3D models were developed in OpenSees to accurately depict the lateral response and included all structural and non-structural framing and sheathing, explicit diaphragm modeling, and nonlinear boundary conditions to capture bearing load paths. This paper details the modeling techniques adopted and typical results including comparison with experiments. The impact of the various modeling assumptions on the results is also explored to provide a measure of system sensitivity. In addition, incremental dynamic analysis was performed on the building model and the results post-processed consistent with the FEMA P695 protocol. For the CFS-NEES building, designed to current standards, results indicate that the advanced model predicts an acceptable collapse margin ratio. In the future, the modeling protocols established here provide a means to analyze a suite of CFS-framed archetype buildings and provide further insight on seismic response modification coefficients

Seismic Computational Analysis of CFS-NEES Building

The objective of this paper is to explore computational modeling of a coldformed steel framed building subjected to earthquake excitation. The selected two-story building will be subjected to full-scale motion on a shaking table in 2013 as part of the National Science Foundation funded Cold-Formed Steel – Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (CFS-NEES) project. The ledger-framed building employs load bearing cold-formed steel members throughout (wall, floors, and roofs) and employs OSB sheathed shear walls and an OSB sheathed diaphragm for the lateral force resisting system. Two- and three-dimensional analysis models capable of providing vibration, pushover, linear and nonlinear time history analysis are created in OpenSees. To date, the key nonlinearity investigated in the models is the characterization of the shear walls. The shear walls are either modeled as (a) elastic perfectly plastic, consistent with “state of the practice” level knowledge from AISI-S213 or (b) fully hysteretic with pinching and strength degradation based on shear walls tests conducted specifically for this building. The impact of the diaphragm stiffness is also investigated. Interaction of the lateral and gravity system, interaction of the joists, ledger, and walls, and the impact of openings on the diaphragm all remain for future work. The model is being employed to help determine the predicted experimental performance and develop key sensor targets in the response. In addition, the model will be used in incremental dynamic analysis to explore seismic performance-based design and sensitivity to model fidelity (2D, 3D, etc.) for cold-formed steel framed buildings

A rapid and sensitive high-throughput screening method to identify compounds targeting protein-nucleic acids interactions

DNA-binding and RNA-binding proteins are usually considered ‘undruggable’ partly due to the lack of an efficient method to identify inhibitors from existing small molecule repositories. Here we report a rapid and sensitive high-throughput screening approach to identify compounds targeting protein– nucleic acids interactions based on protein–DNA or protein–RNA interaction enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (PDI-ELISA or PRI-ELISA). We validated the PDI-ELISA method using the mammalian highmobility- group protein AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) as the protein of interest and netropsin as the inhibitor of HMGA2–DNA interactions. With this method we successfully identified several inhibitors and an activator for HMGA2–DNA interactions from a collection of 29 DNA-binding compounds. Guided by this screening excise, we showed that netropsin, the specific inhibitor of HMGA2–DNA interactions, strongly inhibited the differentiation of the mouse pre-adipocyte 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes, most likely through a mechanism by which the inhibition is through preventing the binding of HMGA2 to the target DNA sequences. This method should be broadly applicable to identify compounds or proteins modulating many DNA-binding or RNA-binding proteins