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Subtle indications of flaws extracted from ultrasonic waveforms. Ultrasonic-inspection system uses artificial intelligence to help in identification of hidden flaws in electron-beam-welded castings. System involves application of flaw-classification logic to analysis of ultrasonic waveforms.
An objective of future Mars missions involves emplacing a seismic network on Mars to determine the internal structure of the planet. An argument based on the relative geologic histories of the terrestrial planets suggests that Mars should be seismically more active than the Moon, but less active than the Earth. The seismicity is estimated which is expected on Mars through time from slip on faults visible on the planets surface. These estimates of martian seismicity must be considered a lower limit as only structures produced by shear faulting visible at the surface today are included (i.e., no provision is made for buried structures or non-shear structures); in addition, the estimate does not include seismic events that do not produce surface displacement (e.g., activity associated with hidden faults, deep lithospheric processes or volcanism) or events produced by tidal triggering or meteorite impacts. Calibration of these estimates suggests that Mars may be many times more seismically active than the Moon.
The most important observed characteristics are described of active galactic nuclei, concentrating on their optical spectra. Connections with the standard model of such objects are emphasized. Some of the new observational developments that are leading to modifications of the standard model are outlined; these include spatial variations of the ionization parameters in the broad line region, the possible existence of a very dense component in the broad line region, and the presence of an intermediate density zone between the broad line and narrow line regions. Evidence for hidden Seyfert 1 nuclei and anisotropic ionizing radiation is also reviewed. The search for, and properties of, intrinsically weak Seyfert 1 nuclei are summarized, with emphasis given to the very low luminosity object in the late type dwarf galaxy NGC 4395. A discussion is also presented of the possibility that low level activity in some galactic nuclei might actually be produced by bursts of star formation and their associated supernovae.
A variety of features that support the generation and manipulation of graphical objects and images in C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) are described. These features provide the CLIPS programmer with the ability to develop an enhanced user interface. Windows and objects within the windows can be created, hidden, redisplayed, given new values, properties, or positions and manipulated in various other ways. Menus can be generated for any window or object and displayed when desired. Interaction with the user is primarily via mouse movements and mouse button selections made over windows, items, or menus. User input is recorded in the form of fact assertions. Limited animation of objects is also supported.
We study magnetically charged classical solutions of a spontaneously broken gauge theory interacting with gravity. We show that nonsingular monopole solutions exist only if the Higgs field vacuum expectation value v is less than or equal to a critical value v sub cr, which is of the order of the Planck mass. In the limiting case, the monopole becomes a black hole, with the region outside the horizon described by the critical Reissner-Nordstrom solution. For v less than v sub cr, we find additional solutions which are singular at f = 0, but which have this singularity hidden within a horizon. These have nontrivial matter fields outside the horizon, and may be interpreted as small black holes lying within a magnetic monopole. The nature of these solutions as a function of v and of the total mass M and their relation to the Reissner-Nordstrom solutions is discussed.
The energy-time uncertainty principle is on a different footing than the momentum position uncertainty principle: in contrast to position, time is a c-number parameter, and not an operator. As Aharonov and Bohm have pointed out, this leads to different interpretations of the two uncertainty principles. In particular, one must distinguish between an inner and an outer time in the definition of the spread in time, delta t. It is the inner time which enters the energy-time uncertainty principle. We have checked this by means of a correlated two-photon light source in which the individual energies of the two photons are broad in spectra, but in which their sum is sharp. In other words, the pair of photons is in an entangled state of energy. By passing one member of the photon pair through a filter with width delta E, it is observed that the other member's wave packet collapses upon coincidence detection to a duration delta t, such that delta E(delta t) is approximately equal to planks constant/2 pi, where this duration delta t is an inner time, in the sense of Aharonov and Bohm. We have measured delta t by means of a Michelson interferometer by monitoring the visibility of the fringes seen in coincidence detection. This is a nonlocal effect, in the sense that the two photons are far away from each other when the collapse occurs. We have excluded classical-wave explanations of this effect by means of triple coincidence measurements in conjunction with a beam splitter which follows the Michelson interferometer. Since Bell's inequalities are known to be violated, we believe that it is also incorrect to interpret this experimental outcome as if energy were a local hidden variable, i.e., as if each photon, viewed as a particle, possessed some definite but unknown energy before its detection.
Described here is sparse distributed memory (SDM) as a neural-net associative memory. It is characterized by two weight matrices and by a large internal dimension - the number of hidden units is much larger than the number of input or output units. The first matrix, A, is fixed and possibly random, and the second matrix, C, is modifiable. The SDM is compared and contrasted to (1) computer memory, (2) correlation-matrix memory, (3) feet-forward artificial neural network, (4) cortex of the cerebellum, (5) Marr and Albus models of the cerebellum, and (6) Albus' cerebellar model arithmetic computer (CMAC). Several variations of the basic SDM design are discussed: the selected-coordinate and hyperplane designs of Jaeckel, the pseudorandom associative neural memory of Hassoun, and SDM with real-valued input variables by Prager and Fallside. SDM research conducted mainly at the Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (RIACS) in 1986-1991 is highlighted.
The airloads-inflow model presented is ideally suited for rotor aeroelasticity and control analysis, especially where eigenvalues are sought. The model, which is derived from thin-airfoil theory with an extension that allows for other airfoil effects, is of hierarchical-lift type and may be simplified to any degree desired; the inflow is also expanded in shape functions which may be truncated to any desired texture. Both models are written in closed-form, state-variable equations without hidden states and without integrals over the wake.
A technique for simulating laser range imagers using Z-buffering and readily available 3D graphics hardware is described. This approach utilizes the graphics hardware features available for hidden surface removal to achieve faster than real-time speed. How Z-buffering works in graphics workstations, how it can be adapted to provide a simulation of laser range images, and the performance characteristics of this simulation on a computer are shown.
An assumed-stress hybrid/mixed 4-node quadrilateral shell element is introduced that alleviates most of the deficiencies associated with such elements. The formulation of the element is based on the assumed-stress hybrid/mixed method using the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle. The membrane part of the element has 12 degrees of freedom including rotational or 'drilling' degrees of freedom at the nodes. The bending part of the element also has 12 degrees of freedom. The bending part of the element uses the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory which takes into account the transverse shear contributions. The element formulation is derived from an 8-node isoparametric element by expressing the midside displacement degrees of freedom in terms of displacement and rotational degrees of freedom at corner nodes. The element passes the patch test, is nearly insensitive to mesh distortion, does not 'lock', possesses the desirable invariance properties, has no hidden spurious modes, and for the majority of test cases used in this paper produces more accurate results than the other elements employed herein for comparison.
A neural network architecture is proposed to estimate, in real-time, the fatigue life of mechanical components, as part of the intelligent Control System for Reusable Rocket Engines. Arbitrary component loading values were used as input to train a two hidden-layer feedforward neural net to estimate component fatigue damage. The ability of the net to learn, based on a local strain approach, the mapping between load sequence and fatigue damage has been demonstrated for a uniaxial specimen. Because of its demonstrated performance, the neural computation may be extended to complex cases where the loads are biaxial or triaxial, and the geometry of the component is complex (e.g., turbopumps blades). The generality of the approach is such that load/damage mappings can be directly extracted from experimental data without requiring any knowledge of the stress/strain profile of the component. In addition, the parallel network architecture allows real-time life calculations even for high-frequency vibrations. Owing to its distributed nature, the neural implementation will be robust and reliable, enabling its use in hostile environments such as rocket engines.
Artificial neural nets and polynomial approximations were used to develop response surfaces for several test problems. Based on the number of functional evaluations required to build the approximations and the number of undetermined parameters associated with the approximations, the performance of the two types of approximations was found to be comparable. A rule of thumb is developed for determining the number of nodes to be used on a hidden layer of an artificial neural net, and the number of designs needed to train an approximation is discussed.
Observations obtained from IRAS for a 120 sq deg region at the boundary of a large expanding shell in Eridanus are presented. It is found that the separation between the structures in the H I and IR emission is not due to a transition of the gas into molecular hydrogen at the location of the IR filaments. The molecular hydrogen column density of these filaments is at least two orders of magnitude below what is typically seen in high-latitude molecular clouds. As the H I and dust in this region are associated with a large expanding shell (or superbubble), the action of shocks and radiation fields may be responsible for the separations of gas and dust. Unless the gas and dust structures are resolved and lie in a favorable viewing geometry, the effect tends to be hidden. The results indicate that it is not always evident, from observations with spatial resolutions coarser than a few arcminutes, how interstellar gas and dust are related.
The IRAS data base is used to compare the mid-FIR properties of two classes of radio-loud AGN whose LF radio emission arises in large-scale radio lobes. The two primary samples consist of 42 quasars and 75 narrow-line radio galaxies selected on the basis of their 178 MHz radio flux density from the 3 CR catalog and having redshifts of not less than 0.3 and Galactic latitudes of not less than 20 deg. The mid-FIR emission was found to be about four times stronger on average in the quasars than in the radio galaxies. Even though the radio galaxies are systematically weaker mid-FIR sources than the quasars, they are still exceptionally luminous (about 10 exp 12 solar luminosities) in the mid-FIR. These powerful radio galaxies contain potent sources of radiation that are either hidden or energetically unimportant at shorter wavelengths.
Results are presented of Mk III 18-cm VLBI observations of a small sample of IR-bright galaxies: four starburst galaxies which have no evidence of an AGN from the optical spectrum, two Seyfert 2 galaxies, and one previously unclassified Markarian galaxies. In Mrk 297 the compact radio source lies in an obscure clump near the edge of the galaxy. This is either the first known case of a detached nucleus (presumably as a result of disruption during a merger) or a radio supernova of unprecedented luminosity. No VLBI-scale emission was detected in the nucleus of the starburst galaxy Mrk 201 or in Mrk 928a, although the Seyfert 2 nucleus Mrk 928b was detected. Mrk 620 was found to have a milliarcsecond core, but Mrk 520 was not detected. Optical spectroscopy was obtained for five galaxies, including Mrk 520. It is demonstrated that, in luminous starburst galaxies, an active nucleus can effectively be completely hidden from view in the optical by dust. The results also support a physical or causal connection between classical nuclear activity and the starburst phenomenon.
The paper presents 1-20-micron photometry of P/Giacobini-Zinner obtained at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, during 1985 June-September (r = 1.57-1.03 AU). A broad, weak 10-micron silicate emission feature was detected on August 26.6; a similar weak emission feature could have been hidden in the broadband photometry on other dates. The total scattering and emitting cross section of dust in the inner coma was similar to that in other short-period comets, but a factor of 10 (r = 1.56 AU) to 100 (r = 1.03 AU) lower than the amount of dust in Comet Halley. The thermal emission continuum can be fit with models weighted toward either small or large absorbing grains. The dust production rate near perihelion was about 100,000 g/s (small-grain model) to about 1,000,000 g/s (large-grain model). The corresponding dust/gas mass ratio on August 26 was about 0.1-1. A silicate-rich heterogeneous grain model with an excess of large particles is compatible with the observed spectrum of Giacobini-Zinner on August 26. Thus, weak or absent silicate emission does not necessarily imply an absence of silicates in the dust, although the abundance of silicate particles not greater than 1 micron radius must have been lower than in Comet Halley.
Spectral reflectance measurements are conducted of a number of mineralogically well-characterized, shock-blackened ordinary chondrites exhibiting four types of shock-generated black features: (1) opaque melt shock veins, (2) melt pockets and irregular interconnected melt veins, (3) melt dikes, and (4) black chondrites. While their spectra resemble those of C asteroids, these materials are found in impact crater basements and floors rather than surfaces and are of low abundances; they therefore cannot be responsible for large-scale spectral alterations of the parent asteroids of ordinary chondrites, and offer no support for the supposition that ordinary chondrite asteroids are hidden among C asteroids.
The CIRSSE two-finger gripper is designed to be used with a 6-axis wrist-mounted force-torque sensor as part of an experimental testbed for cooperative robotic manipulation. The gripper system consists of a dedicated controller and a pneumatic powered gripper that is servoed in position or grasping force. The gripper also has a between fingertip light beam sensor. The major features of this new design are: high grasping force to weight ratio (25::1) and compactness (14 cm base-fingertip, 0.8 kilograms); low cost dedicated slave controller; and simple host-controller communications protocol to minimize command interpretation delay. Shared software functions between the host and the controller processor permit the host to select servo mode, servo gain-parameter values, and calibration offsets. Hidden primitive self-test, calibration and servo confidence functions are included.