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Results of interferometric scans of the interstellar 7669 wavelength line of neutral potassium are reported toward 26 stars at 1.2 km/sec resolution. The advantages of the K I line, as compared with other optical interstellar lines, are discussed. Recent progress in photoanalytical techniques are shown to make possible the effective realization in practice of the inherent advantages of the K I line.
The strongest and generally most useful optical interstellar absorption lines include the D lines of Na I, the H and K lines of Ca II, and the resonance doublet at 7600 A and 7664 A of K I. The interferometric data for these strongest atomic lines are examined in a comprehensive manner. The numerical results pertaining to the total column densities are collected in a table, which lists 82 stars. The correlations among some of the quantities listed in the table are displayed in a number of graphs.
The strong projectile-charge-state dependence of K X-ray production in gases establishes a charge-state scale for ions penetrating solids. Si K X-ray cross sections in gaseous SiH4 were compared to those in solid Si for 40-MeV O (6+ to 8+) and 86-MeV Ar (6+ to 16+) projectiles. For Ar an effective charge of 11 plus or minus one is found compared to an emergent charge of 14.8 plus or minus 0.5. The result is discussed in terms of alternate models for steady-state excitation in solids.
The effects of alloy additions of zirconium, hafnium, molybdenum, tungsten, rhenium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, and iridium on the hardness of niobium was determined. Both binary and ternary alloys were investigated by means of hardness tests at 77 K and 300 K. Results showed that atomic size misfit plays a dominant role in controlling hardness of binary niobium alloys. Alloy softening, which occurred at dilute solute additions, is most likely due to an extrinsic mechanism involving interaction between solute elements and interstitial impurities.
Equilibrium charge fractions are calculated for subrelativistic cosmic ray oxygen ions in the interstellar medium. These are used to determine the expected flux of K-alpha rays arising from atomic processes for a number of different postulated interstellar oxygen spectra. Relating these results to the diffuse X-ray background measured at the appropriate energy level suggests an observable line feature. If the flux of low energy cosmic ray oxygen is sufficiently large, K-alpha X-ray line emission from these nuclei will comprise a significant fraction of the total diffuse flux at approximately 0.6 keV. A satellite borne detector with a resolution greater than 30 percent could observe this feature if the subrelativistic interstellar cosmic ray oxygen spectrum is as large as certain theoretical estimates expressed in the text.
A new R = 1/2 K = 32 quick-look-in code is described and compared to the R = 1/2 K = 32 Massey-Costello code now used in some NASA systems. The new code, has the optimum distance profile property. This new code is shown, by comparison of Fano sequential decoding performance on a simulated Gaussian noise channel, to be computationally superior to the Massey-Costello code. The new code is also shown to be superior to the Massey-Costello code according to several analytical code criteria.
Five conductors of three structure types were discovered which, as solids, can transport Na(+) or K(+) ions with conductivities of approximately .00001/(omega cm) at 300 K. These compounds are: (1) the pyrochlores NaTaWO6 and NaTa2O5F, both with an activation energy for conduction delta E of 21 kJ/mole; (2) the bodycentered cubic form of NaSbO3, with delta E = 42 kJ/mole; and (3) the niobates 2Na2O with 3Nb2O5 and 2K2O with 3Nb2O5, with the alkali ions probably in open layers of the incompletely determined structure; delta E = 17 kJ/mole. On the basis of approximately 40 structure types, some generalizations were made regarding the relation between structure and ionic transport.
Laboratory measurements of widths and shifts of the Ca II H and K lines have been made under conditions simulating those in the atmospheres of metallic-line white dwarfs, namely, densities of 10 to the 21st power helium atoms per cu cm and temperatures of 4500 to 6000 K. There are significant differences in the shifts and damping constants of the two fine-structure components. The impact theory is evidently applicable to the Ca II/He system under these conditions, and the observed damping constants are fortuitously close to the predictions of conventional Lindholm-Foley/van der Waals theory. The widths and shifts have also been analyzed in terms of Lennard-Jones potential theory.
Results are reported for photoelectric interferometric scans of the interstellar K I (7699 A) and Na I D1 absorption lines toward rho Oph AB and omicron Sco in the complex of dark clouds near rho Oph. The scans are found to reveal a well-marked line multiplicity toward both stars. It is shown that the resolved components of the line profiles can provide a natural explanation for the difference between the radial velocity of the strongest atomic lines of Na I and Ca II and that of the much weaker molecular lines of CH(+), CH, and CN that was previously observed toward rho Oph. The less saturated 7699-A lines toward both stars yield K I column densities roughly consistent with the calculated interstellar reddening.
Strain gage behavior under static and transient heating conditions at various strain rates and high temperatures (1366 K(2000 F) was studied. Optimum time-temperature parameters were developed for preconditioning (prestabilizing) the gages. A limited study was carried out to determine the extent of spalling of platinum cladding during fabrication of platinum-clad wire strain gages. Further verification was also carried out on the convergence and repeatability of the apparent strain characteristics of the gage under heating and cooling cycles. The significance of these characteristics from the standpoint of enhancing measurement accuracy is also discussed. It was concluded that the gage should perform satisfactorily to temperatures approaching 1366 K (2000 F).
The cause of low-cycle fatigue failure of the 3.3K Thrust Chamber was investigated. This thrust chamber typifies the current trend in rocket nozzle design which calls for high performance coupled with weight and volume limitations as well as the requirement of reusability. The analysis was performed with the BOPACE finite-element computer program which provides capability to determine viscoplastic response of a structure subjected to cyclic thermal and mechanical loading. Results are presented which show the critical region for low-cycle fatigue and the history of strain within that region for each thermo-mechanical loading cycle in the 3.3K thrust chamber. The predicted behavior was used to evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life near the throat plane of the chamber. The results show that BOPACE provides an extremely accurate prediction of structural behavior; the critical region was identified and the life determined from computed strains was within 154 cycles of the observed failure at 1013 cycles.
Equilibrium thermodynamic properties for pure ammonia were generated for a range of temperature from 500 to 50,000 K and pressure from 0.01 to 40 MN/sq m and are presented in tabulated and graphical form. Properties include pressure, temperature, density, enthalpy, speed of sound, entropy, molecular-weight ratio, specific heat at constant pressure, specific heat at constant volume, isentropic exponent, and species mole fractions. These properties were calculated by the method which is based on minimization of the Gibbs free energy. The data presented herein are for an 18-species ammonia model. Heats of formation and spectroscopic constants used as input data are presented. Comparison of several thermodynamic properties calculated with the present program and a second computer code is performed for a range of pressure and for temperatures up to 30,000 K.
The ion probe mass spectrometer was used to measure hydrogen concentration gradients in cathodically charged Monel K 500. Initial work with the ion probe involved the calibration of the instrument and the establishment of a suitable experimental procedure for this application. Samples of Monel K 500 were cathodically charged in a weak sulfuric acid solution. By varying the current density, different levels of hydrogen were introduced into the samples. Hydrogen concentration gradients were taken by ion sputtering on the surface of these samples and monitoring the behavior of the hydrogen mass peak as a function of time. An attempt was made to determine the relative amounts of hydrogen in the bulk and grain boundaries by analyzing a fresh fracture surface with a higher proportion of grain boundary area. It was found that substantially more hydrogen was detected in the grain boundaries than in the bulk, confirming the predictions of previous workers. A sputter rate determination was made in order to establish the rate of erosion.
The hydrogen- and self-broadened half-widths have been measured for the (nu1 + nu2) and (nu2 + nu3) bands of ammonia at 300 and 207 K. Measurement of hydrogen-broadened widths has been restricted to J and K values not exceeding 6, but that of self-broadened widths is done for a few lines outside that range. Assuming a power-law dependence of half-width on temperature, the average value of the index alpha for the lines measured is found to be 0.57 for hydrogen broadening.
The technique of flash photolysis coupled with time resolved detection of O via resonance fluorescence has been used to obtain rate constants for the reaction of O(3-P) with H2S at temperatures from 263 to 495 K and at pressures in the range 10-400 torr. Under conditions where secondary reactions are avoided, the measured rate constants for the primary step obey the Arrhenius equation k = (7.24 plus or minus 1.07) x 10 to the -12th exp(-3300 plus or minus 100/1.987 T) cu cm/molecules/s. Experiments with D2S show that the reaction exhibits a primary isotope effect, in support of a hydrogen abstraction mechanism.
The tensile properties at room temperature and at 1365 K and the tensile creep properties at low strain rates at 1365 K were measured for several oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys. The alloys examined included ODS Ni, ODS Ni-20Cr, and ODS Ni-16Cr-Al. Metallography of creep tested, large grain size ODS alloys indicated that creep of these alloys is an inhomogeneous process. All alloys appear to possess a threshold stress for creep. This threshold stress is believed to be associated with diffusional creep in the large grain size ODS alloys and normal dislocation motion in perfect single crystal (without transverse low angle boundaries) ODS alloys. Threshold stresses for large grain size ODS Ni-20Cr and Ni-16Cr-Al type alloys are dependent on the grain aspect ratio. Because of the deleterious effect of prior creep on room temperature mechanical properties of large grain size ODS alloys, it is speculated that the threshold stress may be the design limiting creep strength property.
A map of the circumstellar gas shell around Betelgeuse is presented from observations of the fluorescent emission in the K I 7699 A resonance line. The observations obtained at 3 sec and 5 sec from the star indicate approximate spherical symmetry in the 10 km/s expanding shell responsible for the blueshifted sharp cores seen in strong resonance and low excitation lines. Calculations show that the density of neutral K atoms is approximately constant between 3 sec and 5 sec from the star. The emission profiles in the west show a second, higher velocity, component at 5 sec from the star.
Radial velocities are measured on coude spectrograms of over 200 O-type stars in both hemispheres. The selection of effective wavelengths for the stellar lines to be measured is reviewed, and the measured velocities are compared with those available in a catalog of O stars. The Trumpler (1935) effect (a reported anomalous redshift in certain O stars) is inconclusively reinvestigated, atmospheric motions in Of stars are examined, and some kinematic properties of O stars are discussed statistically. It is found that 58% of all O stars and 41% of all the Of stars considered are certain or probable binaries. A K-term in the range from 1 to 2 km/s is derived for the O stars, but the Of stars are shown to have a highly significant negative K-term. It is suggested that the systematically negative peculiar velocities of the Of stars are due to outflow of material beginning at the photospheric level.