Gravitational wave detection on the Moon and the moons of Mars

The Moon and the moons of Mars should be extremely quiet seismically and could therefore become sensitive gravitational wave detectors, if instrumented properly. Highly sensitive displacement sensors could be deployed on these planetary bodies to monitor the motion induced by gravitational waves. A superconducting displacement sensor with a 10-kg test mass cooled to 2 K will have an intrinsic instrument noise of 10⁻¹⁶ m Hz^−1/2. These sensors could be tuned to the lowest two quadrupole modes of the body or operated as a wideband detector below its fundamental mode. An interesting frequency range is 0.1–1 Hz, which will be missed by both the ground detectors on the Earth and LISA and would be the best window for searching for stochastic background gravitational waves. Phobos and Deimos have their lowest quadrupole modes at 0.2–0.3 Hz and could offer a sensitivity h_min ? 10⁻²² Hz^−1/2 within their resonance peaks, which is within two orders of magnitude from the goal of the Big Bang Observer (BBO). The lunar and Martian moon detectors would detect many interesting foreground sources in a new frequency window and could serve as a valuable precursor for BBO.     

Optimal air-launching rocket design using system trades and a multi-disciplinary optimization approach

Compared with the conventional ground rocket launching, air-launching has many advantages. However, a comprehensive and integrated system design approach is required because the physical geometry of air launch vehicle is quite dependent on the installation limitation of the mother plane. For the selection of the best system alternative, a trade study for the first stage engine type and launching speeds is performed using a sequential optimization technique, confirming the feasibility of the baseline air-launching rocket. Then, a system design has been performed using the multi-disciplinary feasible (MDF) design optimization method. Analysis modules include mission analysis, staging, propulsion analysis, configuration, weight analysis, aerodynamics analysis and trajectory analysis. As a result of multi-disciplinary system optimization, a supersonic air launching rocket with total mass of 1244.9 kg, total length of 6.36 m, outer diameter of 0.60 m has been successfully designed to launch a satellite of 7.5 kg to the 700 km circular orbit.     

Orbital phase spectroscopy of four high mass X-ray binary pulsars to study the stellar wind of the companion

Our work focuses on a comprehensive orbital phase-dependent spectroscopy of the four High Mass X-ray Binary Pulsars (HMXBPs) 4U 1538-52, GX 301-2, OAO 1657-415 and Vela X-1. We hereby report the measurements of the variation of the absorption column density and iron-line flux along with other spectral parameters over the binary orbit for the above-mentioned HMXBPs in elliptical orbits, as observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the BeppoSAX satellites. A spherically symmetric wind profile was used as a model to compare the observed column density variations. Out of the four pulsars, only in 4U 1538-52, we find the model having a reasonable corroboration with the observations, whereas in the remaining three the stellar wind seems to be clumpy and a smooth symmetric stellar wind model appears to be quite inadequate in explaining the data. Moreover, in GX 301-2, neither the presence of a disk nor a gas stream from the companion was validated. Furthermore, the spectral results obtained in the case of OAO 1657-415 and Vela X-1 were more or less similar to that of GX 301-2.     

Mechanical behavior and properties of fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites for high temperature use

Ceramics can keep their mechanical characteristics up to 2 000℃ or higher.In this paper,A model to predict ultimate strength of continuous fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composites is developed.A statistical theory for the strength of a uni-axially fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composite is presented.Also a semi-empirical frictional heating method for estimating in-situ interfacial shear in fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites was improved.Local uneven fiber packing variation as well as uneven micro-damage during fatigue can be expected to have effects on the composites:generation of frictional heating,thermal gradients,and residual stresses around local fiber breaks.This study examined those engineering interests by the finite element method.      

3点逐步r型自适应网格算法

为了根据某个流场参数梯度较合理地分布网格同时又不增加网格点的数量,提出一种基以总变差为基础的r型3点逐步自适应网格算法,通过3点逐步调整网格点的位置以减小网格线的扭曲,生成质量较好的计算网格.以绕二维圆柱和三维双椭球的超声速流动为算例,用Euler方程模拟,以流场的压力总变差来进行自适应,通过分别用所提出的自适应方法生成的自适应网格与用原始网格计算所得的流场结果对比,计算结果表明,用自适应网格计算所得的激波比用初始网格计算所得的激波薄,采用自适应方法所计算出的流场数值解具有更高的分辨率.      

附属小圆柱对主圆柱绕流影响的数值模拟

从小马赫数下的可压缩Navier-Stokes方程出发,采用覆盖网格分区算法,对在主圆柱尾流场的适当位置放置附属小圆柱时的流动特性及其对主圆柱绕流问题的影响进行了详细的数值模拟研究.根据模拟结果,主要探讨在小雷诺数范围内,附属小圆柱位置、个数、大小以及雷诺数变化等因素对主圆柱绕流的流场结构及其非定常演化过程的影响.计算结果表明,在小雷诺数范围内,无论附属小圆柱的个数如何,都存在最佳抑制区域.当附属小圆柱放在这个区域时,涡街被完全抑制,整个流场达到准定常状态;同时,阻力系数也显著下降.在一定程度上,随着小圆柱直径的增加,主圆柱涡脱落更易被抑制.另外,相对于单个附加小圆柱而言,使用两个附加小圆柱能使主圆柱涡脱落的抑制提高到更高的雷诺数.      

Noise covariances estimation for systems with bias states

This paper presents a new approach to noise covariances estimation for a linear, time-invariant, stochastic system with constant but unknown bias states. The system is supposed to satisfy controllable/observable conditions without bias states. Based on a restructured data representation, the covariance of a new variable that consists of measurement vectors is expressed as a linear combination of unknown parameters. Noise covariances are then estimated by employing a recursive least-squares algorithm. The proposed method requires no a priori estimates of noise covariances, provides consistent estimates, and can also be applied when the relationship between bias states and other states is unknown. The method has been applied to strapdown inertial navigation system initial alignment. Simulation results indicate a satisfactory performance of the proposed method     

Stability Analysis of a Buck Regulator Employing Input Filter Compensation

The interaction between the input filter and the regulator often causes serious degradation of performance. The reduction in loop gain due to input filter interaction can result in system instability. An exact stability analysis of the buck regulator system is presented. The input filter parameter values are varied and system instability is predicted for the case without feedforward. The eigenvalues of the system can be brought back into the unit circle and the system thus stabilized with the addition of the feedforward loop. Measurements made for the cases with and without feedforward confirm the analytical prediction.     

Design of Switching Regulator with Combined FM and On-Off Control

The design and implementation of a switching regulator incorporating a high-frequency series-resonant converter and a combined FM and on-off feedback control is presented. The combined FM and on-off control results in a better conversion efficiency and a wider range of operational input voltage and output current. A 22.5 V, 50 W experimental regulator has been built to demonstrate the practicality of the circuit and its high efficiency, typically 92 to 96 percent, depending on the input and loading conditions.