Instantonic approach to triple well potential

By using a usual instanton method we obtain the energy splitting due to quantum tunneling through the triple well barrier. It is shown that the term related to the midpoint of the energy splitting in propagator is quite different from that of double well case, in that it is proportional to the algebraic average of the frequencies of the left and central wells.Comment: Revtex, 11 pages, Included one eps figur

Automated Rendezvous and Docking Using Tethered Formation Flight

This paper analyzes capture strategies for tether-based autonomous rendezvous and docking. Once both spacecrafts are connected by tethers, docking is achieved through the use of reaction wheels and tether motors without the use of propellant. Autonomous rendezvous and docking is crucial for many upcoming missions including on-orbit servicing and potential Mars missions. The tether-based capture strategies investigated are a spin-up tether deployment and a free-flying child spacecraft attaching the tether. These strategies are compared to a traditional two-agent propulsive docking strategy. The capture strategies are simulated from initial orbit through to completed dock, with the total fuel consumption and dock time compared, along with initial pointing/location requirements. In addition to having lower fuel cost, the tether-based strategies are also more reliable due to redundancy, since tethers can be reeled back in and multiple tethers can be stored for use in case of primary tether failure

A case study of green building in Malaysia: cost saving analysis

The building sector consumes about forty percent of world energy, making energy efficiency in existing buildings an important issue. This study has been undertaken to investigate energy consumption of a building that has been redesigned to incorporate energy efficient features. It was found that the introduction of energy efficient features has helped to achieve savings up to 46% of the total spent on energy particularly based on electricity bills

Autonomous In-Orbit Satellite Assembly from a Modular Heterogeneous Swarm

This paper presents a decentralized, distributed guidance and control scheme to combine a heterogeneous swarm of component satellites into a large satellite structure. The component satellites for the heterogeneous swarm are chosen to promote flexibility in final shape inspired by crystal structures and Islamic tile art. After the ideal fundamental building blocks are selected, basic nanosatellite-class satellite designs are made to assist in simulations involving attitude control. The Swarm Orbital Construction Algorithm (SOCA) is a guidance and control algorithm to allow for the limited type heterogeneity and docking ability required for in-orbit assembly. The algorithm consists of two parts, a distributed auction which uses barrier functions to ensure the proper agent selection for each target, and a trajectory generation portion which leverages model predictive control and sequential convex programming to achieve optimal collision-free trajectories to the desired target point even with nonlinear system dynamics. The optimization constraints use a boundary layer to determine whether the collision avoidance or the docking constraints should be applied. The algorithm was tested in a simulated perturbed 6-DOF spacecraft dynamic environment for planar and out-of-plane final structures and on two robotic platforms, including a swarm of frictionless spacecraft simulation robots

High-temperature Fluidized Receiver for Concentrated Solar Radiation by a Beam-down Reflector System

AbstractThis study proposes a novel fluidized receiver for absorbing concentrated solar light at high temperatures. Previously, a tubular receiver and a volumetric receiver were developed to make high-temperature air for a solar gas turbine system. The aim was to combine these elements with a tower reflector; however, it was challenging to install these heavy receivers on the top of the tower. Currently, a fluidized receiver prototype is tested by a 3 kWh solar simulator in preparation for a field test at the Miyazaki beam-down reflector system. The fluid dynamics of the prototype receiver is numerically investigated. The currently treated receiver is an inner-circulating fluidized bed spouted by concentric gas streams with high and low velocities in the center and outer annulus, respectively. The draft tube is submerged in the particles to organize particle circulation. Concentrated light irradiates the particles through a quartz window at the top of the receiver container. Such a fluidized bed was first adopted by Kodama et al. for thermochemical reactions; however, it is currently pursued for its potential as a high-temperature receiver aimed at concentrated solar power generation. Experiments of the prototype receiver (inner diameter = 45mm) demonstrated that the inner particles are heated to a temperature greater than 900°C and that an increase of the central gas velocity removes the excess temperature near the particle bed surface. A numerical computation suggests that the large-scale circulation of particles leads to the activation of thermal mixing. The currently proposed receiver is thus expected to attenuate re-radiation losses likely to occur in a conventional volumetric porous receiver. The scale-up of the receiver is being considered by the numerical computation for a field test in the Miyazaki 100 kWh beam-down reflector system

Tapered microchannel for multi-particles passive separation based on hydrodynamic resistance

Researches on separation of multi-particles utilizing microfluidic have been flourishing in recent years with the aid from advancements in microfabrication design and technology. Generally, separation is beneficial for biomedical application especially involving heterogeneous samples. Due to inherent problems of samples isolation, a simple and efficient separation device is required. Here, we present a passive tapered microchannel for multi-particles separation using hydrodynamic principle. Our emphasis is on the effect of hydrodynamic resistance coupled with tapered microchannel design. In the experiment, successful multi-particles samples separation was observed. The results were further analyzed and were in agreement with the proposed concept. This method opens the route toward robust, low-cost and high-throughput, thus it may holds potential to be integrated as one functional module in Micro Total Analysis System (µTAS)