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At least 865 records · Page 48

Break-down of a planar liquid-solid interface during directional solidification - Influence of convection

The influence of convection on the development of morphological instability at the liquid-solid interface during directional solidification in a positive thermal gradient has been examined in Pb-10 wt pct Sn and succinonitrile-1.9 wt pct acetone. The onset of interfacial breakdown occurs at higher growth speeds in the presence of convection. The linear stability analysis due to Favier and Rouzaud which uses the 'deformable' mass flow boundary layer concept shows a good agreement with the experimentally observed behavior.

Tewari, S. N.↗

Gravitational influence on eutectic solidification

The effect of gravity on eutectic solidification was investigated experimentally for Pb-Sn binary eutectic alloys. It is found that the separation of the primary crystals of the binary system from the coupled eutectic occurs over a wide range of cooling rates and gravitational fields (100-100,000 g). The separation is strongly influenced by the nucleation behavior of the particular alloy system. A mechanism for the strong phase separation is postulated on the basis of cloud convection models in atmospheric convection.

Sokolowski, Robert S.↗

Hydrodynamic instabilities in supernova remnants - Self-similar driven waves

An initial study aimed at elucidating the multidimensional aspects of the hydrodynamic instabilities in supernova remnants is presented. Self-similar solutions are found to exist for the interaction of a steep power-law density profile expanding into a relatively flat stationary power-law density profile. Consideration of the pressure and entropy profiles in the shocked 1D flows shows that the flows are subject to convective instability, by a local criterion. The growth rate for the instability becomes very large near the contact discontinuity between the two shocked regions. A linear analysis of the complete self-similar solutions shows that the solutions are unstable above a critical wavenumber and that the growth rate is greatest at the position of the contact discontinuity. The X-ray image of the remnant of SN 1572 (Tycho) shows emission from clumps of supernova ejecta, which is good evidence for instabilities in this remnant.

Chevalier, Roger A.↗

Radioactivities and gamma-rays from supernovae

An account is given of the implications of several calculations relevant to the estimation of gamma-ray signals from various explosive astronomical phenomena. After discussing efforts to constrain the amounts of Ni-57 and Ti-44 produced in SN 1987A, attention is given to the production of Al-27 in massive stars and SNs. A 'delayed detonation' model of type Ia SNs is proposed, and the gamma-ray signal which may be expected when a bare white dwarf collapses directly into a neutron star is discussed.

Woosley, S. E.↗

The effect of axial crucible rotation on microstructural uniformity during horizontal directional solidification

The effects on microstructure of crucible orientation with respect to the earth's gravitational vector, g, during directional solidification of low-volume fraction copper and aluminum, Pb-Cu, and Sn-Al alloys are examined. It is demonstrated that horizontal alignment (i.e. perpendicular to g) in combination with axial rotation of the crucible during growth is sufficient to negate factors which initiate macrosegregation, e.g. density gradients attributed to temperature and/or compositional differences, and promotes a uniform microstructure.

Grugel, R. N.↗

B supergiants in open clusters and associations

The final report on project NAG5-78, 'IUE Observations of B Supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud', a collaborative effort between Garmany (U. of Colorado), Sonneborn (Goddard Space Flight Center) and Fitzpatrick (Princeton Univ.) is presented. Over 90 B supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with the IUE satellite, using the low dispersion mode were observed. These stars were chosen because they resemble the precursor star to SN 1987a, and a data base in the continuing effort to understand why the precursor star was a blue, not a red supergiant was needed. The observations were all reduced and made into an atlas, and efforts to understand the evolutionary history of stars of the H-R diagram are underway.

Garmany, C. D.↗

Thermodynamic data for fifty reference elements

This report is a compilation of thermodynamic functions of 50 elements in their standard reference state. The functions are C(sub p)(sup 0), (H(sup 0)(T) - H(sup 0)(0)), S(sup 0)(T), and -(G(sup 0)(T) - H(sup 0)(O)) for the elements Ag, Al, Ar, B, Ba, Be, Br2, C, Ca, Cd, Cl2, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, F2, Fe, Ge, H2, He, Hg, I2, K, Kr, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, N2, Na, Nb, Ne, Ni, O2, P, Pb, Rb, S, Si, Sn, Sr, Ta, Th, Ti, U, V, W, Xe, Zn, and Zr. Deuterium D2 and electron gas e(sup -) are also included. The data are tabulated as functions of temperature as well as given in the form of least-squares coefficients for two functional forms for C(sub p)(sup 0) with integration constants for enthalpy and entropy. One functional form for C(sub p)(sup 0) is a fourth-order polynomial and the other has two additional terms, one with T(exp -1) and the other with T(exp -2). The gases Ar, D2, e(sup -), H2, He, Kr, N2, Ne, O2, and Xe are tabulated for temperatures from 100 to 20,000 K. The remaining gases Cl2 and F2 are tabulated from 100 to 6000 K and 1000 to 6000 K. The second functional form for C(sub p)(sup 0) has an additional interval from 6000 to 20,000 K for the gases tabulated to 20,000 K. The fits are constrained so that the match at the common temperature endpoints. The temperature ranges for the condensed species vary with range of the data, phase changes, and shapes of the C(sub p)(sup 0) curves.

Mcbride, Bonnie J.↗

On determining the primordial helium abundance from the spectra of H II galaxies

A data set of 53 H II galaxies and giant H II regions whose observed abundances have reliable formal uncertainties reveals that the O/H-He/H relation used to determine the primordial helium abundance (PBA) has a highly significant physical dispersion. Consideration of possible sources of scatter indicates that it is almost certainly one-sided, i.e., upward from a minimum value of He/H at each O/H. The presence of an asymmetric dispersion casts doubt on values of PBA obtained by extrapolating ridge-line fits to the O/H-He/H relation. The loss of oxygen in SN explosions will lead naturally to a positive dispersion in He/H. The observed dispersions in He/H can be explained by chemical evolution models in which 0-95 percent of the newly synthesized oxygen is lost. It is concluded that in H II galaxies and giant H II regions PBA can be reliably determined only by fitting to the lower envelope of the O/H-He/H relation.

Campbell, Alison↗

Type Ia supernovae as standard candles

The distribution of absolute blue magnitudes among Type Ia supernovae (SNs Ia) is studied. Supernovae were used with well determined apparent magnitudes at maximum light and parent galaxies with relative distances determined by the Tully-Fisher or Dn - sigma techniques. The mean absolute blue magnitude is given and the observational dispersion is only sigma(MB) 0.36, comparable to the expected combined errors in distance, apparent magnitude, and extinction. The mean (B-V) color at maximum light is 0.03 +/- 0.04, with a dispersion sigma(B-V) = 0.20. The Cepheid-based distance to IC 4182, the parent galaxy of the normal and unextinguished Type Ia SN 1937C, leads to a Hubble constant of H(0) + 51 +/- 12 km/s Mpc. The existence of a few SNs Ia that appear to have been reddened and dimmed by dust in their parent galaxies does not seriously compromise the use of SNs Ia as distance indicators.

Branch, David↗

A multiwavelength study of the Eridanus soft X-ray enhancement

We present soft X-ray, N(H), and IR maps of the Eridanus soft X-ray enhancement. Soft X-ray maps from the HEAO 1 A-2 LED experiment, processed with a maximum entropy method (MEM) algorithm, show that the enhancement consists of two distinct components: a large hook-shaped component and a small circular component at different temperatures. Both of these are located in 'holes' in the IR emission, and they correspond to N(H) features at very different velocities. The dust surrounding the X-ray enhancements appears to be associated with several high-latitude molecular clouds, which allow us to obtain a probable distance of about 130 pc to the near edge of the main enhancement. The total power emitted by the hot gas is then about 10 exp 35 to 10 exp 36 ergs/s. We consider alternative interpretations of these objects as adiabatic supernova remnants or as stellar wind bubbles and conclude that they are more likely to be stellar wind bubbles, possibly reheated by a SN explosion in the case of the main, hook-shaped object.

Burrows, D. N.↗

Thermosolutal convection during dendritic solidification of a binary alloy

The FEM model of Heinrich (1988) is presently extended to the case of dendritic vertical solidification under steady-state conditions. An analysis is conducted of the nonlinear governing equations for linear stability, and FEM calculations are performed in cases where instability has been predicted for Pb-Sn melt systems; the results obtained show that the model is more stable than the plane front liquid-solid model, and shows similar, finger-like covection when unstable. It is found that convection in the 'mush' zone is confined to the top of that region; convective motion is driven by convection in the bulk fluid, in the absence of natural convection.

Heinrich, Juan C.↗

The interstellar abundances of tin and four other heavy elements

Spectra recorded at 1150-1600 A with an instrumental resolution near 16 km/s were obtained with the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph on board the HST. The gaseous interstellar abundances of five heavy elements along the light paths to 23 Ori, 15 Mon, 1 Sco, Pi Sco, and Pi Aqr were determined from the observations. The 1400.450 A line of Sn II was detected and identified toward three stars; at Z = 50, tin is the first element from the fifth row of the periodic table to be identified in the interstellar medium. One spectral line of each of Cu II (Z = 29) and Ga II (Z = 31), three lines of Ge II (Z = 32), and two lines of Kr I (Z = 36) were also detected toward some or all of the five stars. The depletions of these five heavy elements generally decrease monotonically with increasing atomic number toward each of the six stars, and tin is generally undepleted within the observational errors. The depletions of 26 elements from the interstellar gas in an average dense interstellar cloud appear to correlate with the elemental 'nebular' condensation temperatures more closely than with the first ionization potentials.

Hobbs, L. M.↗

Numerical model for dendritic solidification of binary alloys

A finite element model capable of simulating solidification of binary alloys and the formation of freckles is presented. It uses a single system of equations to deal with the all-liquid region, the dendritic region, and the all-solid region. The dendritic region is treated as an anisotropic porous medium. The algorithm uses the bilinear isoparametric element, with a penalty function approximation and a Petrov-Galerkin formulation. Numerical simulations are shown in which an NH4Cl-H2O mixture and a Pb-Sn alloy melt are cooled. The solidification process is followed in time. Instabilities in the process can be clearly observed and the final compositions obtained.

Felicelli, S. D.↗

Pulse-Timing Studies of X Ray Pulsars

The pulse-timing projects supported by NASA Grant NAG8-695 were motivated in large part by our long-standing interest in the physics of rotating neutron stars and particularly the variations in rotation due to internal and external fluctuating torques. For accretion-powered pulsars, observed as compact galactic X-ray sources, our work has been motivated by questions regarding the physics of matter accretion, mass transfer, and mass loss in these X-ray binary systems. For rotation-powered pulsars using X-ray, optical, and radio observations, we have examined the internal structure of neutron stars and mechanisms for secular spin-down. These issues are still central to the continuing process of understanding the complex behavior of these fascinating systems. The work supported by this grant is based mainly on Ginga observations of three pulsating X-ray sources. We observed two of these sources (Her X-1 and SMC X-1) within the framework of a NASA-ISAS program for U.S.-Japan collaborations to obtain and analyze Ginga observations. In addition, we joined with members of the Ginga team to apply our pulse-timing methods to PSR 0540-69 data obtained as a collateral benefit of the regular monitoring by Ginga of SN 1987A. In addition to these Ginga observations, there exist other relevant data on all three of these sources. The direction of our investigations has been affected by the necessity of including these supporting data in our analyses, and setting up the necessary collaborations has sometimes entailed extra work that was not anticipated in our proposals. Indeed, we have often taken the initiative in establishing these joint projects.

Deeter, John E.↗

Distributed intelligent control and status networking

Over the past two years, the Network Control Systems Branch (Code 532) has been investigating control and status networking technologies. These emerging technologies use distributed processing over a network to accomplish a particular custom task. These networks consist of small intelligent 'nodes' that perform simple tasks. Containing simple, inexpensive hardware and software, these nodes can be easily developed and maintained. Once networked, the nodes can perform a complex operation without a central host. This type of system provides an alternative to more complex control and status systems which require a central computer. This paper will provide some background and discuss some applications of this technology. It will also demonstrate the suitability of one particular technology for the Space Network (SN) and discuss the prototyping activities of Code 532 utilizing this technology.

Fortin, Andre↗

Generating and evaluating alternate schedules

The demand for and availability of Space Network resources are subject to short-term fluctuations and long-term changes. Generation of acceptable schedules under changing demand and resource availability will require the use of different scheduling policies. This paper identifies several such scheduling policies. It defines metrics for evaluating schedules using the criteria directly related to these scheduling policies. Then it applies the metrics to compare several schedules generated for a scenario representative of 1998 SN demand and resources. Finally, the paper describes a method for using these metrics to evaluate schedules based on multiple criteria.

Reddy, Surender D.↗

The Automated Conflict Resolution System (ACRS)

The Automated Conflict Resolution System (ACRS) is a mission-current scheduling aid that predicts periods of mutual interference when two or more orbiting spacecraft are scheduled to communicate with the same Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) at the same time. The mutual interference predicted has the potential to degrade or prevent communications. Thus the ACRS system is a useful tool for aiding in the scheduling of Space Network (SN) communications.

Kaplan, Ted↗