75,778 research outputs found
Design of serrate-semi-circular riblets with application to skin friction reduction on engineering surface
Drag reduction in wall-bounded flows can be achieved by the passive flow control technique through the application of bio-inspired riblet surfaces. This paper presents the innovative design of Serrate-Semi-Circular riblet surfaces particularly focusing on the intrinsic relationship between the riblet features and the turbulent boundary layer structure resulting from these surfaces in engineering applications. The available experimental facilities, instrumentation (i.e. hotwire) and measurement techniques (i.e. velocity spectra) have been employed to investigate the boundary layer velocity profiles and skin friction for flat plate and Serrate-Semi-Circular riblet surfaces. Both the simulation and experimental wind tunnel testing results show that the Serrate-Semi-Circular riblet surface can provide 7% drag reduction, which is better than other riblet configurations, such as V and U shaped ones
UTB SOI SRAM cell stability under the influence of intrinsic parameter fluctuation
Intrinsic parameter fluctuations steadily increases with CMOS technology scaling. Around the 90nm technology node, such fluctuations will eliminate much of the available noise margin in SRAM based on conventional MOSFETs. Ultra thin body (UTB) SOI MOSFETs are expected to replace conventional MOSFETs for integrated memory applications due to superior electrostatic integrity and better resistant to some of the sources of intrinsic parameter fluctuations. To fully realise the performance benefits of UTB SOI based SRAM cells a statistical circuit simulation methodology which can fully capture intrinsic parameter fluctuation information into the compact model is developed. The impact on 6T SRAM static noise margin characteristics of discrete random dopants in the source/drain regions and body-thickness variations has been investigated for well scaled devices with physical channel length in the range of 10nm to 5nm. A comparison with the behaviour of a 6T SRAM based on a conventional 35nm MOSFET is also presented
Matter-wave localization in a random potential
By numerical and variational solution of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, we
studied the localization of a noninteracting and weakly-interacting
Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a disordered cold atom lattice and a speckle
potential. In the case of a single BEC fragment, the variational analysis
produced good results. For a weakly disordered potential, the localized BECs
are found to have an exponential tail as in weak Anderson localization. We also
investigated the expansion of a noninteracting BEC in these potential. We find
that the BEC will be locked in an appropriate localized state after an initial
expansion and will execute breathing oscillation around a mean shape when a BEC
at equilibrium in a harmonic trap is suddenly released into a disorder
potential
Impact of random dopant induced fluctuations on sub-15nm UTB SOI 6T SRAM cells
The CMOS scaling increases the impact of intrinsic parameter fluctuation on the yield and functionality of SRAM. A statistical circuit simulation framework which can fully capture intrinsic parameter fluctuation information into the compact model has been developed. The impact of discrete random dopants in the source and drain regions on 6T SRAM cells has been investigated for well scaled ultra thin body (UTB) SOI MOSFETs with physical channel length in the range of 10nm to 5nm
The Origin of Gamma-Rays from Globular Clusters
Fermi has detected gamma-ray emission from eight globular clusters. We
suggest that the gamma-ray emission from globular clusters may result from the
inverse Compton scattering between relativistic electrons/positrons in the
pulsar wind of MSPs in the globular clusters and background soft photons
including cosmic microwave/relic photons, background star lights in the
clusters, the galactic infrared photons and the galactic star lights. We show
that the gamma-ray spectrum from 47 Tuc can be explained equally well by upward
scattering of either the relic photons, the galactic infrared photons or the
galactic star lights whereas the gamma-ray spectra from other seven globular
clusters are best fitted by the upward scattering of either the galactic
infrared photons or the galactic star lights. We also find that the observed
gamma-ray luminosity is correlated better with the combined factor of the
encounter rate and the background soft photon energy density. Therefore the
inverse Compton scattering may also contribute to the observed gamma-ray
emission from globular clusters detected by Fermi in addition to the standard
curvature radiation process. Furthermore, we find that the emission region of
high energy photons from globular cluster produced by inverse Compton
scattering is substantially larger than the core of globular cluster with a
radius >10pc. The diffuse radio and X-rays emitted from globular clusters can
also be produced by synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering
respectively. We suggest that future observations including radio, X-rays, and
gamma-rays with energy higher than 10 GeV and better angular resolution can
provide better constraints for the models.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, Comments may send to Prof. K.S. Cheng:
[email protected]
Formation and kinetics of transient metastable states in mixtures under coupled phase ordering and chemical demixing
We present theory and simulation of simultaneous chemical demixing and phase
ordering in a polymer-liquid crystal mixture in conditions where isotropic-
isotropic phase separation is metastable with respect to isotropic-nematic
phase transition. It is found that mesophase formation proceeds by a transient
metastable phase that surround the ordered phase, and whose lifetime is a
function of the ratio of diffusional to orientational mobilities. It is shown
that kinetic phase ordering in polymer-mesogen mixtures is analogous to kinetic
crystallization in polymer solutions.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures accepted for publication in EP
Probing High Redshift Radiation Fields with Gamma-Ray Absorption
The next generation of gamma-ray telescopes may be able to observe gamma-ray
blazars at high redshift, possibly out to the epoch of reionization. The
spectrum of such sources should exhibit an absorption edge due to
pair-production against UV photons along the line of sight. One expects a sharp
drop in the number density of UV photons at the Lyman edge E_{L}. This implies
that the universe becomes transparent after gamma-ray photons redshift below E
(m_{e}c^2)^{2}/E_{L} 18 GeV. Thus, there is only a limited redshift interval
over which GeV photons can pair produce. This implies that any observed
absorption will probe radiation fields in the very early universe, regardless
of the subsequent star formation history of the universe. Furthermore,
measurements of differential absorption between blazars at different redshifts
can cleanly isolate the opacity due to UV emissivity at high redshift. An
observable absorption edge should be present for most reasonable radiation
fields with sufficient energy to reionize the universe. Ly-alpha photons may
provide an important component of the pair-production opacity. Observations of
a number of blazars at different redshifts will thus allow us to probe the rise
in comoving UV emissivity with time.Comment: ApJ accepted version, minor changes. 19 pages, 5 figure
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SLS Processing Studies of Nylon 11 Nanocomposites
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is widely used for rapid prototyping/manufacturing of
nylon 11 and nylon 12 parts. This processing technique has not been explored for
nylon nanocomposites. This study investigates the technicalities of processing nylon
11-clay and nylon-carbon nanofiber nanocomposites with SLS. Microstructural
analyses of the SLS powders and parts were conducted under SEM. Results suggest
that SLS processing is possible with the new nylon 11 nanocomposites. Yet the SLS
parts built have inferior properties relative to those of injection molding, suggesting
that more fine tuning for the processing is required.Mechanical Engineerin
Modelling the multi-wavelength emissions from PSR B1259-63/LS 2883: the effects of the stellar disc on shock radiations
PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 is an elliptical pulsar/Be star binary and emits
broadband emissions from radio to TeV -rays. The massive star possesses
an equatorial disc, which is inclined with the orbital plane of the pulsar. The
non-thermal emission from the system is believed to be produced by the pulsar
wind shock and the double-peak profiles in the X-ray and TeV -ray light
curves are related to the phases of the pulsar passing through the disc region
of the star. In this paper, we investigate the interactions between the pulsar
wind and stellar outflows, especially with the presence of the disc, and
present a multi-wavelength modelling of the emission from this system. We show
that the double-peak profiles of X-ray and TeV -ray light curves are
caused by the enhancements of the magnetic field and the soft photons at the
shock during the disc passages. As the pulsar is passing through the equatorial
disc, the additional pressure of the disc pushes the shock surface closer to
the pulsar, which causes the enhancement of magnetic field in the shock, and
thus increases the synchrotron luminosity. The TeV -rays due to the
inverse-Compton (IC) scattering of shocked electrons with seed photons from the
star is expected to peak around periastron which is inconsistent with
observations. However, the shock heating of the stellar disc could provide
additional seed photons for IC scattering during the disc passages, and thus
produces the double-peak profiles as observed in the TeV -ray light
curve. Our model can possibly be examined and applied to other similar
gamma-ray binaries, such as PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213, HESS J0632+057, and LS
I+61303.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
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