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At least 1,315 records · Page 73

Magnetospheric multiharmonic instabilities

The paper discusses linear convective growth rates of instabilities of electrostatic multiple electron cyclotron harmonic waves in a plasma consisting of a hot electron component with a loss-cone type of free energy source and a cold electron component of presumably ionospheric origin. When the ratio of cold to hot electron temperature is small, the cold upper hybrid frequency controls the harmonic bands that can be nonconvectively stable. When this ratio increases above a few times 0.01, nonconvective instability disappears simultaneously for each harmonic band, when the density ratio is less than unity. A consistent interpretation of the spatial localization and harmonic frequency bandwidths of the observed waves can be made assuming linear convective saturation, provided that the cold electrons have temperatures considerably in excess of those in the ionosphere.

Ashour-Abdalla, M.↗

Influence of flaw geometries on hole-crack stress intensities

The paper deals with a frozen-stress photoelastic study of a class of flaw shapes where the ratio of the hole diameter to plate thickness is approximately unity. The study was carried out by a technique developed for estimating stress intensity factor variations along the border of flaws in three-dimensional problems. The results show that for deep flaws, the flaw shapes are not simple and the flow growth is not self-similar. The implications of this effect are discussed.

Smith, C. W.↗

The observations of the X-ray source HZ Herculis/Hercules X-1

The results of a campaign of monitoring HZ Her with the IUE satellite are presented. The spectrum and light variation outside of eclipse are consistent with the Milgrom and Salpeter model for emission from the X-ray heated photosphere of the primary. Near eclipse there is UV flux in excess of the prediction of the heated photosphere model, which shows significant 35 day variations and is consistent with an origin in a precessing disk, as described by Gerend and Boynton. The spectrum shows the strong emission lines of N V and C IV, which generally vary in the sense of the continuum. The N V/C IV ratio is greater than 2 near orbital phase 0.5 and approaches unity near eclipse. It is suggested that these emission lines are optically thick and arise from both the heated photosphere and the accretion disk.

Gursky, H.↗

Low frequency sound absorption of orifice plates, perforated plates and nozzles

Analyses of impulse time history data from acoustic transmission tests for conical nozzles attached to a pipe show internal reflections from the solid contraction and open area tend to cancel. To gain understanding of the opposing reflections, tests were conducted by replacing the conical nozzles with orifice plates. The primary variable was the open to solid area ratio. Internal reflection coefficient data reveal that, at an area ratio of 10-12%, the low frequency internal reflection is reduced from unity to about 0.2. Based on comparisons of far-field and internal data, acoustic energy is not conserved. Results are presented for complex reflection coefficient and far-field noise for a series of orifice and perforated plate configurations.

Salikuddin, M.↗

Comparison of ISEE-1 and -3 interplanetary magnetic field observations

Three hourly correlation coefficients and the lag at maximum correlation are computed using one minute averages of ISEE-1 and -3 magnetometer data during the period in which ISEE-3 moved from the earth to its halo orbit around the libration point. The maximum correlation coefficients are highly variable ranging from close to zero to almost unity. The lags, while on the average approximating the expected corotation delay, have very large departures from this value. These results suggest that the normals to the planes separating fields of differing orientation often make large angles to the ecliptic plane and/or that the interplanetary magnetic field has a significant amount of bending on a scale length the order of 200 earth radii. Furthermore, there often appears to be a significant amount of propagating structure in the IMF. Thus, ISEE-3 magnetic field measurements should be used with caution if precise timing of arrival at the earth or precise directions of the field upon arrival are important.

Russell, C. T.↗

Interstellar polarization in an irregularly fluctuating medium

The interstellar polarization of starlight for an irregularly fluctuating medium is analyzed statistically. A general formulation is presented for the case in which the propagation distance s is larger than the coherence scale of the fluctuations. One specific result for randomly changing field direction is that the linear polarization saturates at a value which can be much less than unity, in agreement with observations.

Nee, S. F.↗

Note on the eigensolution of a homogeneous equation with semi-infinite domain

The 'variation-iteration' method using Green's functions to find the eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions of a homogeneous Fredholm integral equation is employed for the stability analysis of fluid hydromechanics problems with a semiinfinite (infinite) domain of application. The objective of the study is to develop a suitable numerical approach to the solution of such equations in order to better understand the full set of equations for 'real-world' flow models. The study involves a search for a suitable value of the length of the domain which is a fair finite approximation to infinity, which makes the eigensolution an approximation dependent on the length of the interval chosen. In the examples investigated y = 1 = a seems to be the best approximation of infinity; for y greater than unity this method fails due to the polynomial nature of Green's functions.

Wadia, A. R.↗

Adsorption interference in mixtures of trace contaminants flowing through activated carbon adsorber beds

Adsorption interference in binary and ternary mixtures of trace contaminants in a helium carrier gas flowing through activated carbon adsorber beds are studied. The isothermal transmission, which is the ratio of the outlet to the inlet concentration, of each component is measured. Interference between co-adsorbing gases occurs when the components are adsorbed strongly. Displacement of one component by another is manifested by a transmission greater than unity for the displaced component over some range of eluted volume. Interference is evidenced not only by a reduction of the adsorption capacity of each component in the mixture in comparison with the value obtained in a single-component experiment, but also by a change in the slope of the transmission curve of each component experiment.

Madey, R.↗

Photodissociation of CO2 into CO plus O/1D/

It is shown that the photodissociation of CO2(1Sigma/g/plus) into CO(X1Sigma/plus/) plus O(1D) with a quantum yield of unity is consistent with all known data on the CO2 ultraviolet absorption band between 1675 and 1400 A. Astrophysical data from the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are not inconsistent with this interpretation and cometary data seem to support it.

Delsemme, A. H.↗

Granulation in a main-sequence F-type star

The modal approach developed by Nelson and Musman (1977) is used to investigate convection in an F-type main-sequence star (effective temperature of 7300 K, g = 10,000 cm per sec per sec). The convective velocities and intensity contrasts are found to be larger than in the sun. Even though the convective flux is less than 1% of the total flux at a mean optical depth of unity, the spectral-energy distribution is strongly reddened as a result of the fluctuating opacity. This has important implications in the conversion scale from observed colors to effective temperature. The scale of the surface granulation is expected to be in the range 1000-5000 km. Calculations of the combined H-He I and He II convection zones support the prediction of Toomre et al. (1976) that the stable region between the zones is well mixed

Nelson, G. D.↗

Fracture analysis of ductile materials

In the present paper, Newman's (1973) two-parameter fracture criterion is used to analyze failure of single-edge-crack tension specimens made of bolting steel and rotor steel, with thicknesses and widths of the same order. It is shown that for width-to-thickness ratios of roughly unity, the plastic-collapse stress is strongly influenced by the state of stress on the net section and the collapse stress is closer to the plane-strain value.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗

The multispecies modeling of the premixed, laminar steady-state ozone flame

Species dependent kinetic, transport and thermodynamic coefficients were employed in a one dimensional model of the premixed, laminar, steady state ozone flame. Convenient expressions for these coefficients are reported. They are based on independent measurements, no arbitrary parameters are used. The governing equations are solved using a relaxation technique and the partial differential equation package, PDECOL. Species and temperature profiles and the burning velocities are found over the range of initial ozone mole fraction of 0.25 to 1.00. The computed burning velocities are no more than 30% greater than the measurements of Streng and Grosses. Comparison with the computed results of Warnatz shows agreement within + or - 12%, even though quite different expressions for some of the kinetic coefficients were used. These differences are most obvious in the atomic oxygen and temperature profiles at an initial ozone mole fraction of unity.

Heimerl, J. M.↗

AlGaAs-GaAs cascade solar cell

Computer modeling studies are reported for a monolithic, two junction, cascade solar cell using the AlGaAs GaAs materials combination. An optimum design was obtained through a serial optimization procedure by which conversion efficiency is maximized for operation at 300 K, AM 0, and unity solar concentration. Under these conditions the upper limit on efficiency was shown to be in excess of 29 percent, provided surface recombination velocity did not exceed 10,000 cm/sec.

Lamorte, M. F.↗

Plasmas in Saturn's magnetosphere

The solar wind plasma analyzer on board Pioneer 2 provides first observations of low-energy positive ions in the magnetosphere of Saturn. Measurable intensities of ions within the energy-per-unit charge (E/Q) range 100 eV to 8 keV are present over the planetocentric radial distance range about 4 to 16 R sub S in the dayside magnetosphere. The plasmas are found to be rigidly corotating with the planet out to distances of at least 10 R sub S. At radial distances beyond 10 R sub S, the bulk flows appear to be in the corotation direction but with lesser speeds than those expected from rigid corotation. At radial distances beyond the orbit of Rhea at 8.8 R sub S, the dominant ions are most likely protons and the corresponding typical densities and temperatures are 0.5/cu cm and 1,000,000 K, respectively, with substantial fluctuations. It is concluded that the most likely source of these plasmas in the photodissociation of water frost on the surface of the ring material with subsequent ionization of the products and radially outward diffusion. The presence of this plasma torus is expected to have a large influence on the dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere since the pressure ratio beta of these plasmas approaches unity at radial distances as close to the planet as 6.5 R sub S. On the basis of these observational evidences it is anticipated that quasi-periodic outward flows of plasma, accompanied with a reconfiguration of the magnetosphere beyond about 6.5 R sub S, will occur in the local night sector in order to relieve the plasma pressure from accretion of plasma from the rings.

Frank, L. A.↗

Shock associated noise reduction from inverted-velocity-profile coannular jets

Acoustic measurements show that the shock noise from the outer stream is virtually eliminated when the inner stream is operated at a Mach number just above unity, regardless of all the other jet operating conditions. At this optimum condition, the coannular jet provides the maximum noise reduction relative to the equivalent single jet. The shock noise reduction can be achieved at inverted-as well as normal-velocity-profile conditions, provided the coannular jet is operated with the inner stream just slightly supersonic. Analytical models for the shock structure and shock noise are developed indicate that a drastic change in the outer stream shock cell structure occurs when the inner stream increases its velocity from subsonic to supersonic. At this point, the almost periodic shock cell structure of the outer stream nearly completely disappears the noise radiated is minimum. Theoretically derive formulae for the peak frequencies and intensity scaling of shock associated noise are compared with the measured results, and good agreement is found for both subsonic and supersonic inner jet flows.

Tanna, H. K.↗

Thermal radiation in Arctic stratus clouds

Infrared radiative properties of Arctic stratus clouds in the 10.1-12.7 micron wavelength region are determined from a series of aircraft measurements. The average emissivity of the clouds when scattering is neglected is unity for cloud depths greater than 350 m. Under the assumption that the cloud layers are homogeneous the cloud droplet volume absorption coefficient is estimated as 17 + or - 5 per km. Several mass absorption coefficients are estimated for several assumed liquid water distributions. It is also concluded that the cloud reflectance is not larger than 2 (+ or - 5%).

Herman, G. F.↗

A simplified theory of oscillating aerofoils in transonic flow - Review and extension

A simplified theory of the dynamic motion of aerofoils of finite thickness in transonic flow is presented which excludes the effect of shock waves on the aerofoil itself and, thus, is restricted to free stream Mach numbers equal to unity or above. Numerical examples are analyzed for two-dimensional steady and unsteady (including transient) aerofoil motion and three-dimensional steady and unsteady flow over delta wings. The effects of flow separation and improvements in Bernoulli's equation and the surface boundary condition are briefly discussed.

Dowell, E. H.↗

Catalysis of peptide bond formation by histidyl-histidine in a fluctuating clay environment

The condensation of glycine to form oligoglycines during wet-dry fluctuations on clay surfaces was enhanced up to threefold or greater by small amounts of histidyl-histidine. In addition, higher relative yields of the longer oligomers were produced. Other specific dipeptides tested gave no enhancement, and imidazole, histidine, and N-acetylhistidine gave only slight enhancements. Histidyl-histidine apparently acts as a true catalyst (in the sense of repeatedly catalyzing the reaction), since up to 52 nmol of additional glycine were incorporated into oligoglycine for each nmol of catalyst added. This is the first known instance of a peptide or similar molecule demonstrating a catalytic turnover number greater than unity in a prebiotic oligomer synthesis reaction, and suggests that histidyl-histidine is a model for a primitive prebiotic proto-enzyme. Catalysis of peptide bond synthesis by a molecule which is itself a peptide implies that related systems may be capable of exhibiting autocatalytic growth.

White, D. H.↗