Enhancing the ATIC charge resolution

The Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC) experiment is designed to investigate the charge composition and energy spectra of primary cosmic rays over the energy range from about 10¹¹ to 10¹⁴ eV during Long Duration Balloon (LDB) flights from McMurdo, Antarctica. Currently, analysis from the ATIC-1 test flight and ATIC-2 science flight is underway and preparation for a second science flight is in progress. Charge identification of the incident cosmic ray is accomplished, primarily, by a pixilated Silicon Matrix detector located at the very top of the instrument. While it has been shown that the Silicon Matrix detector provides good charge identification even in the presence of electromagnetic shower backscatter from the calorimeter, the detector only measures the charge once. In this paper, we examine use of the top scintillator hodoscope detector to provide a second measure of the cosmic ray charge and, thus, improve the ATIC charge identification.     

CREAM: 70 days of flight from 2 launches in Antarctica

The Cosmic-Ray Energetics And Mass balloon-borne experiment has been launched twice in Antarctica, first in December 2004 and again in December 2005. It circumnavigated the South Pole three times during the first flight, which set a flight duration record of 42 days. A cumulative duration of 70 days within 13 months was achieved when the second flight completed 28 days during two circumnavigations of the Pole on 13 January 2006. Both the science instrument and support systems functioned extremely well, and a total 117 GB of data including 67 million science events were collected during these two flights. Preliminary analysis indicates that the data extend well above 100 TeV and follow reasonable power laws. The payload recovered from the first flight has been refurbished for the third flight in 2007, whereas the payload from the second flight is being refurbished to be ready for the fourth flight in 2008. Each flight will extend the reach of precise cosmic-ray composition measurements to energies not previously possible.     

Simulation of discharge impulses in GTE capacitance ignition systems

A possibility of enhancing the energy efficiency of the capacitance ignition system by realizing the batch mode of discharge impulse generation is substantiated. Using the numerical simulation methods, a problem is solved to study the voltage-current characteristics of such discharge units as a spark discharger and a spark plug and peculiarities of discharge formation in them; the batch mode is simulated with proper account for the influence of discharge-recurrence rate upon dynamics of electric strength recovery in the discharge units. A possibility of optimizing the capacitance ignition system parameters is theoretically evaluated to provide the maximum possible quantity of discharge impulse packet energy as well as the value of their peak capacity at the specified values of supply source power, discharge-recurrence rate, and total voltage of the entire ignition system.     

Development and verification of an analytic technique to determine the stiffness parameters of braided tubular parts

This paper deals with development and verification of an analytical technique for determining the stiffness parameters of composite tubular aerospace structures manufactured by radial braiding and transfer molding.     

Open-type mixing device of a bubble structure

Results on the experimental investigation of a novel open-type mixing device with a twophase bubble structure working fluid for gas-droplet jet formation are presented. We study the effect of mode parameters upon velocity fields and droplet atomization obtained at the mixing device outlet.     

Calculation and optimization of aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils with jet blowing in the presence of vortex in the flow

We consider the problem of calculating the ideal non-compressible fluid flow around the airfoil with jet blowing through a channel in the presence of a point vortex with a given circulation in the flow. The effect of the vortex coordinates on the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil is investigated and the optimal position of the vortex for maximal lift is found.     

Slow Solar Wind: Observations and Modeling

While it is certain that the fast solar wind originates from coronal holes, where and how the slow solar wind (SSW) is formed remains an outstanding question in solar physics even in the post-SOHO era. The quest for the SSW origin forms a major objective for the planned future missions such as the Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus. Nonetheless, results from spacecraft data, combined with theoretical modeling, have helped to investigate many aspects of the SSW. Fundamental physical properties of the coronal plasma have been derived from spectroscopic and imaging remote-sensing data and in situ data, and these results have provided crucial insights for a deeper understanding of the origin and acceleration of the SSW. Advanced models of the SSW in coronal streamers and other structures have been developed using 3D MHD and multi-fluid equations.However, the following questions remain open: What are the source regions and their contributions to the SSW? What is the role of the magnetic topology in the corona for the origin, acceleration and energy deposition of the SSW? What are the possible acceleration and heating mechanisms for the SSW? The aim of this review is to present insights on the SSW origin and formation gathered from the discussions at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) by the Team entitled “Slow solar wind sources and acceleration mechanisms in the corona” held in Bern (Switzerland) in March 2014 and 2015.     

Research on Nonlinear Deformation and Stability of an Advanced Aircraft Fuselage Composite Section under Pure Bending

The finite element algorithm developed by the authors has been used for solving the strength and stability problems of shells. The effect of deformation nonlinearity, stiffness of stringer set, shell thickness on critical loads has been determined.     

Numerical determination of the gas-dynamic behavior of vane cascades with various deflection angles of the trailing edges of longitudinal ribs of an advanced gas-turbine engine thrust reverser

The work comprises numerical investigation of the influence of the deflection angles of the trailing edges of longitudinal ribs on the gas-dynamic behavior of vane cascades of a thrust reverser located in the secondary flow of a bypass turbofan engine (BTFE). Verification of the numerical model was performed on the basis of experimental research.     

The influence of the noise field on parametric oscillations of flexible square plates

This paper examines the impact of the external field intensity of white noise on the nonlinear dynamics of square plates under the longitudinal load. It is shown that in some cases, the noise of high intensity is able to reduce the number of frequencies in the oscillation spectrum of the system.