Baseline and Stress-Induced Plasma Corticosterone during Long-Distance Migration in the Bar-Tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica

The specific roles of corticosterone in promotion of avian migration remain unclear even though this glucocorticosteroid is elevated in many migrating bird species. In general, glucocorticosteroids promote metabolic homeostasis and may elicit effects on feeding and locomotion. Because the migratory stages of refueling and flight are characterized by distinct behaviors and physiology, the determination of corticosterone levels during each stage should help identify potential processes in which corticosterone is involved. We measured baseline levels of corticosterone in bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) during two distinct stages of migration: (1) immediately after arrival at a false stopover site just short of theWadden Sea and (2) throughout the subsequent 4-wk refueling period on the Wadden Sea. Plasma corticosterone was higher in arriving than in refueling birds. In addition, corticosterone increased with size-corrected body mass during the refueling phase, suggesting that corticosterone rises as birds prepare to reinitiate flight. Therefore, elevated corticosterone appears associated with migratory flight and may participate in processes characterizing this stage. We also performed a capture stress protocol in all birds and found that corticosterone increased in both arriving and refueling godwits. Therefore, the normal course of migration may be typified by corticosterone concentrations that are lower than those associated with stressful and life-threatening episodes.

Air gap influence on the vibro-acoustic response of Solar Arrays during launch

One of the primary elements on the space missions is the electrical power subsystem, for which the critical component is the solar array. The behaviour of these elements during the ascent phase of the launch is critical for avoiding damages on the solar panels, which are the primary source of energy for the satellite in its final configuration. The vibro-acoustic response to the sound pressure depends on the solar array size, mass, stiffness and gap thickness. The stowed configuration of the solar array consists of a multiple system composed of structural elements and the air layers between panels. The effect of the air between panels on the behaviour of the system affects the frequency response of the system not only modifying the natural frequencies of the wings but also as interaction path between the wings of the array. The usual methods to analyze the vibro-acoustic response of structures are the FE and BE methods for the low frequency range and the SEA formulation for the high frequency range. The main issue in the latter method is, on one hand, selecting the appropriate subsystems, and, on the other, identifying the parameters of the energetic system: the internal and coupling loss factors. From the experimental point of view, the subsystems parameters can be identified by exciting each subsystem and measuring the energy of all the subsystems composing the Solar Array. Although theoretically possible, in practice it is difficult to apply loads on the air gaps. To analyse this situation, two different approaches can be studied depending on whether the air gaps between the panels are included explicitly in the problem or not. For a particular case of a solar array of three wings in stowed configuration both modelling philosophies are compared. This stowed configuration of a three wing solar arrays in stowed configuration has been tested in an acoustic chamber. The measured data on the solar wings allows, in general, determining the loss factors of the configuration. The paper presents a test description and measurements on the structure, in terms of the acceleration power spectral density. Finally, the performance of each modelling technique has been evaluated by comparison between simulations with experimental results on a spacecraft solar array and the influence on the apparent properties of the system in terms of the SEA loss factors has been analyse

Force limited random vibration testing: the computation of the semi-empirical constant C2 for a real test article and unknown supporting structure

To prevent over-testing of the test-item during random vibration testing Scharton proposed and discussed the force limited random vibration testing (FLVT) in a number of publications. Besides the random vibration specification, the total mass and the turn-over frequency of the test article (load), C2 is a very important parameter for FLVT. A number of computational methods to estimate C2 are described in the literature, i.e. the simple and the complex two degree of freedom system, STDFS and CTDFS, respectively. The motivation of this work is to evaluate the method for the computation of a realistic value of C2 to perform a representative random vibration test based on force limitation, when the description of the supporting structure (source) is more or less unknown. Marchand discussed the formal description of obtaining C2 , using the maximum PSD of the acceleration and maximum PSD of the force, both at the interface between test article and supporting structure. Stevens presented the coupled systems modal approach (CSMA), where simplified asparagus patch models (parallel-oscillator representation) of load and source are connected. The asparagus patch model consists of modal effective masses and spring stiffnesses associated with the natural frequencies. When the random acceleration vibration specification is given the CSMA method is suitable to compute the value of the parameter C2 . When no mathematical model of the source can be made available, estimations of the value C2 can be find in literature. In this paper a probabilistic mathematical representation of the unknown source is proposed, such that the asparagus patch model of the source can be approximated. The chosen probabilistic design parameters have a uniform distribution. The computation of the value C2 can be done in conjunction with the CSMA method, knowing the apparent mass of the load and the random acceleration specification at the interface between load and source, respectively. Data of two cases available from literature has been analyzed and discussed to get more knowledge about the applicability of the probabilistic metho

Characterization and synthesis of random acceleration vibration specifications

Random acceleration vibration specifications for subsystems, i.e. instruments,\ud equipment, are most times based on measurement during acoustic noise tests on system level, i.e. a spacecraft and measured by accelerometers, placed in the neighborhood of the interface between spacecraft and subsystem. Tuned finite element models can be used to predict the random acceleration power spectral densities at other locations than available via the power spectral density measurements of the acceleration. The measured and predicted power spectral densities do represent the modal response characteristics of the system and show many peaks and valleys. The equivalent random acceleration vibration test specification is a smoothed, enveloped, peak-clipped version of the measured and predicted power spectral densities of the acceleration spectrum.\ud The original acceleration vibration spectrum can be characterized by a different number response spectra: Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) , Extreme Response Spectrum (ERS), Vibration Response Spectrum (VRS), and Fatigue Damage Spectrum (FDS). An additional method of non-stationary random vibrations is based on the Rayleigh distribution of peaks. The response spectra represent the responses of series of SDOF systems excited at the base by random acceleration,\ud both in time and frequency domain. The synthesis of equivalent random acceleration vibration specifications can be done in a very structured manner and are more suitable than equivalent random acceleration vibration\ud specifications obtained by simple enveloping. In the synthesis process Miles’ equation plays a dominant role to invert the response spectra into equivalent random acceleration vibration spectra. A procedure is proposed to reduce the number of data point in the response spectra curve by dividing the curve in a numbers of fields. The synthesis to an equivalent random acceleration spectrum is performed on a reduced selected set of data points. The recalculated response\ud spectra curve envelops the original response spectra curves. A real life measured random acceleration spectrum (PSD) with quite a number of peaks and\ud valleys is taken to generate, applying response spectra SRS, ERS, VRS, FDS and the Rayleigh distribution of peaks, equivalent random acceleration vibration specifications. Computations are performed both in time and frequency domain

Force limited vibration testing: an evaluation of the computation of C2 for real load and probabilistic source

To prevent over-testing of the test-item during random vibration testing Scharton proposed and discussed the force limited random vibration testing (FLVT) in a number of publications. Besides the random vibration specification, the total mass and the turn-over frequency of the load (test item), is a very important parameter for FLVT. A number of computational methods to estimate are described in the literature, i.e., the simple and the complex two degrees of freedom system, STDFS and CTDFS, respectively. The motivation of this work is to evaluate the method for the computation of a realistic value of to perform a representative random vibration test based on force limitation, when the adjacent structure (source) description is more or less unknown. Marchand discussed the formal description of getting , using the maximum PSD of the acceleration and maximum PSD of the force, both at the interface between load and source. Stevens presented the coupled systems modal approach (CSMA), where simplified asparagus patch models (parallel-oscillator representation) of load and source are connected, consisting of modal effective masses and the spring stiffness's associated with the natural frequencies. When the random acceleration vibration specification is given the CSMA method is suitable to compute the value of the parameter . When no mathematical model of the source can be made available, estimations of the value can be find in literature. In this paper a probabilistic mathematical representation of the unknown source is proposed, such that the asparagus patch model of the source can be approximated. The chosen probabilistic design parameters have a uniform distribution. The computation of the value can be done in conjunction with the CSMA method, knowing the apparent mass of the load and the random acceleration specification at the interface between load and source, respectively. Data of two cases available from literature have been analyzed and discussed to get more knowledge about the applicability of the probabilistic metho