Assessment of probability of detection of delaminations in fiber-reinforced composites

Delamination is one of the critical defects in composite materials and structures. An ultrasonic C-scan imaging technique which maps out the acoustic impedance mismatched areas with respect to the sample coordinates, is particularly well suited for detecting and characterizing delaminations in composites. To properly interpret the results, it is necessary to correlate the indications with the detection limits and probability of detection (POD) of the ultrasonic C-scan imaging technique. The baseline information on the assessment of POD of delaminations in composite materials and structures is very beneficial to the evaluation of spacecraft materials. In this study, we review the principle of POD, describe the laboratory set-up and procedure, and present the experimental results as well as assessment of POD of delaminations in fiber reinforced composite panels using ultrasonic C-scan techniques

Topological defects in flat nanomagnets: the magnetostatic limit

We discuss elementary topological defects in soft magnetic nanoparticles in the thin-film geometry. In the limit dominated by magnetostatic forces the low-energy defects are vortices (winding number n = +1), cross ties (n = -1), and edge defects with n = -1/2. We obtain topological constraints on the possible composition of domain walls. The simplest domain wall in this regime is composed of two -1/2 edge defects and a vortex, in accordance with observations and numerics.Comment: 3 pages, eps figures. Proceedings of MMM 0

Synchrotron x-ray study of lattice vibrations in CdCr2O4

Using inelastic x-ray scattering we have investigated lattice vibrations in a geometric frustrated system CdCr2O4 that upon cooling undergoes a spin-Peierls phase transition at TN = 7.8 K from a cubic and paramagnetic to a tetragonal and Neel state. Phonon modes measured around Brillouin zone boundaries show energy shifts when the transition occurs. Our analysis shows that the shifting can be understood as the ordinary effects of the lowering of the crystal symmetry

Two universal results for Wilson loops at strong coupling

We present results for Wilson loops in strongly coupled gauge theories. The loops may be taken around an arbitrarily shaped contour and in any field theory with a dual IIB geometry of the form M x S^5. No assumptions about supersymmetry are made. The first result uses D5 branes to show how the loop in any antisymmetric representation is computed in terms of the loop in the fundamental representation. The second result uses D3 branes to observe that each loop defines a rich sequence of operators associated with minimal surfaces in S^5. The action of these configurations are all computable. Both results have features suggesting a connection with integrability.Comment: 1+12 pages. LaTeX. No figure

Effect of food experience on overall satisfaction: comparison between first-time and repeat visitors to Malaysia

The attractiveness of food as tourism product has partly derived from the gastronomic aspect. The ingredients, the preparations, the end products, and the eating circumstances are cultural, educational, and entertaining. However, there is little research empirically demonstrates if there is a difference between first-time and repeat visitors in terms of food experience at destination, or how the various food experience attributes influence visitors’ overall satisfaction while visiting a destination. Hence, this study was undertaken to address the gap. Data were collected via on-site survey questionnaire administrated to a random sample of visitors at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and various touristic areas around Kuala Lumpur. The results indicated significant differences between first-time and repeat visitors in terms of their food experience. In addition, multiple regression analysis revealed that traditional food preparation was an important factor to tourists’ overall satisfaction for both first-time and repeat visitors. In sum, the study is the first to examine the effect of food experience attributes on first time and repeat visitors separately

Tunneling in Squeezing Ground

A criterion for identifying the squeezing potential of tunnel is proposed. Tunneling conditions, classified as slightly or non-squeezing, moderately squeezing and highly squeezing, were identified by relating the strength-stress (σcm/Po ) ratio to the development of plastic zone extent and the amount of tunnel closure. Actual case histories of tunneling in Taiwan show that this criterion predicts the tunnel performance quite well. This enables the identification of tunneling conditions expected which require special considerations in support design and excavation-support procedures

Lagrangian Symmetries of Chern-Simons Theories

This paper analyses the Noether symmetries and the corresponding conservation laws for Chern-Simons Lagrangians in dimension $d=3$. In particular, we find an expression for the superpotential of Chern-Simons gravity. As a by-product the general discussion of superpotentials for 3rd order natural and quasi-natural theories is also given.Comment: 16 pages in LaTeX, some comments and references added. to appear in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Genera

Quantization and Corrections of Adiabatic Particle Transport in a Periodic Ratchet Potential

We study the transport of an overdamped particle adiabatically driven by an asymmetric potential which is periodic in both space and time. We develop an adiabatic perturbation theory after transforming the Fokker-Planck equation into a time-dependent hermitian problem, and reveal an analogy with quantum adiabatic particle transport. An analytical expression is obtained for the ensemble average of the particle velocity in terms of the Berry phase of the Bloch states. Its time average is shown to be quantized as a Chern number in the deterministic or tight-binding limit, with exponentially small corrections. In the opposite limit, where the thermal energy dominates the ratchet potential, a formula for the average velocity is also obtained, showing a second order dependence on the potential.Comment: 8 page

Conditional linearizability criteria for a system of third-order ordinary differential equations

We provide linearizability criteria for a class of systems of third-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that is cubically semi-linear in the first derivative, by differentiating a system of second-order quadratically semi-linear ODEs and using the original system to replace the second derivative. The procedure developed splits into two cases, those where the coefficients are constant and those where they are variables. Both cases are discussed and examples given