Thermoviscoelastic Analysis of Stress in Composite Structures- Micro-to-Structural Approach

Manufacturing of composite materials is usually accompanied with residual stresses. These stresses should be evaluated and assessed. To this end, a micromechanical model for periodic material whose temperature dependent constituents behave as thermorheologically complex materials （TCM） has been developed. This model, referred as the high fidelity generalized method of cells （HFGMC）, takes into account the detailed interaction be- tween the fiber and resin, their volume ratios, the fibers distribution and their waviness. This model is linked, in conjunction with a special UMAT subroutine, to the ABAQUS finite element code for prediction of the response of thermoviscoelastic composite structures during cool down process. The present investigation shows the effect of the cool down rate on the residual stress developed in the composite cylindrical structures.     

The dynamics and control of the CubeSail mission: A solar sailing demonstration

The CubeSail mission is a low-cost demonstration of the UltraSail solar sailing concept (, ,  and ), using two near-identical CubeSat satellites to deploy a 260 m-long, 20 m² reflecting film. The two satellites are launched as a unit, detumbled, and separated, with the film unwinding symmetrically from motorized reels. The conformity to the CubeSat specification allows for reduction in launch costs as a secondary payload and utilization of the University of Illinois-developed spacecraft bus. The CubeSail demonstration is the first in a series of increasingly-complex missions aimed at validating several spacecraft subsystems, including attitude determination and control, the separation release unit, reel-based film deployment, as well as the dynamical behavior of the sail and on-orbit solar propulsion. The presented work describes dynamical behavior and control methods used during three main phases of the mission. The three phases include initial detumbling and stabilization using magnetic torque actuators, gravity-gradient-based deployment of the film, and steady-state film deformations in low Earth orbit in the presence of external forces of solar radiation pressure, aerodynamic drag, and gravity-gradient.     

Influence of solar-geomagnetic disturbances on SABER measurements of 4.3 μm emission and the retrieval of kinetic temperature and carbon dioxide

Thermospheric infrared radiance at 4.3 μm is susceptible to the influence of solar-geomagnetic disturbances. Ionization processes followed by ion-neutral chemical reactions lead to vibrationally excited NO⁺ (i.e., NO⁺(v)) and subsequent 4.3 μm emission in the ionospheric E-region. Large enhancements of nighttime 4.3 μm emission were observed by the TIMED/SABER instrument during the April 2002 and October–November 2003 solar storms. Global measurements of infrared 4.3 μm emission provide an excellent proxy to observe the nighttime E-region response to auroral dosing and to conduct a detailed study of E-region ion-neutral chemistry and energy transfer mechanisms. Furthermore, we find that photoionization processes followed by ion-neutral reactions during quiescent, daytime conditions increase the NO⁺ concentration enough to introduce biases in the TIMED/SABER operational processing of kinetic temperature and CO₂ data, with the largest effect at summer solstice. In this paper, we discuss solar storm enhancements of 4.3 μm emission observed from SABER and assess the impact of NO⁺(v) 4.3 μm emission on quiescent, daytime retrievals of Tk/CO₂ from the SABER instrument.     

The interaction of symmetry and verbal codability in children's reconstruction of spatial configurations

Although the physical organization of spatialinformation clearly influences how it is recognized,recalled, and mentally transformed, few studies haveexplored how different levels of organizationinteract. This study focused on 4- and 6-year-oldchildren's memory for spatial configurations andexamined the relative influence of two levels oforganization: symmetry (vertical, horizontal, or none)and codability (verbal or nonverbal). We predictedthat the influence of symmetry would be lesspronounced among the older children for whom thepatterns were more codable. The results partiallysupported this prediction: Older children'sreconstructions were accurate regardless of patternsymmetry; younger children's reconstructions ofvertically-symmetric patterns were more accurate thantheir reconstructions of horizontally-symmetric andasymmetric patterns. Taken together, the resultsrevealed an interaction between age and symmetry onthe accuracy of children's reconstructions, suggestingthat younger children were more sensitive than olderchildren to differences in pattern symmetry. Thus,different levels of organization may influencechildren's ability to recall spatial information andthe relative influence of these levels may changeduring development.     

Mars Global MHD Predictions of Magnetic Connectivity Between the Dayside Ionosphere and the Magnetospheric Flanks

Atmospheric photoelectrons have been observed well above the ionosphere of Mars by the ASPERA-3 ELS instrument on Mars Express. To systematically interpret these observations, field lines from two global MHD simulations were analyzed for connectivity to the dayside ionosphere (allowing photoelectron escape). It is found that there is a hollow cylinder behind the planet from 1–2 R _M away from the Mars-Sun line that has a high probability of containing magnetic field lines with connectivity to the dayside ionosphere. These results are in complete agreement with the ELS statistics. It is concluded that the high-altitude photoelectrons are the result of direct magnetic connectivity to the dayside at the moment of the measurement, and no extra trapping or bouncing mechanisms are needed to explain the data.     

Effects of CW Interference on Narrow-Band Second-Order Phase-Lock Loops

This paper describes an experimental study of the effect of continuous wave (CW) interference and white noise on a second-order phase-lock loop. The reciprocal of the loop mean-square phase error is used as an index of performance, and the effect of interference levels that do not cause cycle skipping or loss of lock is described in terms of this index. Loop thresholds are determined by measurement of cycle-skipping rates. Stationary or slowly-sweeping CW interference caused a degradation in loop threshold of roughly 3 dB for every 6 dB of interference power above the noise power level. The effective loop signal-to-noise ratio was decreased approximately 1 dB at interference-to-noise power ratios of -3 dB. Interference levels equal to the signal level consistently caused loss of lock, regardless of the loop signal-to-noise ratio.     

The O/OREOS mission: first science data from the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) payload

We report the first telemetered spaceflight science results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment, executed by one of the two 10?cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5?kg Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) free-flying nanosatellite. The O/OREOS spacecraft was launched successfully to a 72° inclination, 650?km Earth orbit on 19 November 2010. This satellite provides access to the radiation environment of space in relatively weak regions of Earth's protective magnetosphere as it passes close to the north and south magnetic poles; the total dose rate is about 15 times that in the orbit of the International Space Station. The SESLO experiment measures the long-term survival, germination, and growth responses, including metabolic activity, of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to the microgravity, ionizing radiation, and heavy-ion bombardment of its high-inclination orbit. Six microwells containing wild-type (168) and six more containing radiation-sensitive mutant (WN1087) strains of dried B. subtilis spores were rehydrated with nutrient medium after 14 days in space to allow the spores to germinate and grow. Similarly, the same distribution of organisms in a different set of microwells was rehydrated with nutrient medium after 97 days in space. The nutrient medium included the redox dye Alamar blue, which changes color in response to cellular metabolic activity. Three-color transmitted intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each of the 48?h growth experiments. We report here on the evaluation and interpretation of these spaceflight data in comparison to delayed-synchronous laboratory ground control experiments.