Analysis of crack opening stresses for center- and edge-crack tension specimens

Accurate determination of crack opening stress is of central importance to fatigue crack growth analysis and life prediction based on the crack-closure model. This paper studies the crack opening behavior for center- and edge-crack tension specimens. It is found that the crack opening stress is affected by the crack tip element. By taking the crack tip element into account, a modified crack opening stress equation is given for the center-crack tension specimen. Crack surface displace- ment equations for an edge crack in a semi-infinite plate under remote uniform tension and partially distributed pressure are derived by using the weight function method. Based on these displacements, a crack opening stress equation for an edge crack in a semi-infinite plate under uniform tension has been developed. The study shows that the crack opening stress is geometry-dependent, and the weight function method provides an effective and reliable tool to deal with such geometry depen- dence.     

肋角度对气膜冷却特性的影响

在光滑二次流通道的基础上,分析对比了两种带肋通道(135°肋和45°肋)对气膜冷却特性的影响.采用瞬态液晶测试技术获得了气膜孔下游表面传热系数比与气膜冷却效率分布.使用Fluent软件RANS数值方法对相应结构进行了数值模拟,并使用了realizable k-ε湍流模型.光滑二次流通道模型中,气膜孔内流线呈螺旋状分布,导致较大的孔内速度分离与流动损失.冷气射流分成两部分,其中一股形成一对偏斜的对转涡.135°肋结构中,二次流通道上部分的旋转涡为顺时针方向,使得气流易于流入气膜孔,气膜孔内流线呈直线分布.45°肋结构中,二次流通道上部分旋转涡为逆时针方向,增强了气膜孔内旋转涡.45°肋结构中冷气流入气膜孔之后的流动结构与光滑二次流通道结构相似.135°肋结构气膜冷却效率最大而表面传热系数比最低.     

Performance of a small and low-cost chamber to simulate lunar surface environment

The performance of a small and low-cost metal chamber built to simulate the pressure and temperature conditions of lunar surface was assessed and the results are presented. This chamber is intended for studying the physical properties of lunar surface and subsurface (using soil simulants) and also to validate the technology readiness of certain newly developed payloads planned for future lunar surface missions (Lander/Rover). It is possible to reach down to ∼10⁻⁷ Pa under specific conditions and maintain the temperature of the sample under investigation to lunar day and night temperatures. The designed system has been subjected to various tests to evaluate its performance and suitability for carrying out experiments in a simulated lunar environment.     

Evaluating the feasibility of GPS measurements of SSH on board a ship along the Portuguese West Coast

Aiming to validate coastal altimetry data, an exploratory experiment was carried out, using a survey ship with onboard GPS and motion compensation systems. The ship navigation plan followed a track as coincident as possible with the passage of two altimetry satellites, Envisat and Jason-1, along the Portuguese coast, in June 2007.     

A nonlinear background removal method for seismo-ionospheric anomaly analysis under a complex solar activity scenario: A case study of the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake

A precise determination of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) anomaly variations that are likely associated with large earthquakes as observed by global positioning system (GPS) requires the elimination of the ionospheric effect from irregular solar electromagnetic radiation. In particular, revealing the seismo-ionospheric anomalies when earthquakes occurred during periods of high solar activity is of utmost importance. To overcome this constraint, a multiresolution time series processing technique based on wavelet transform applicable to global ionosphere map (GIM) TEC data was used to remove the nonlinear effect from solar radiation for the earthquake that struck Tohoku, Japan, on 11 March, 2011. As a result, it was found that the extracted TEC have a good correlation with the measured solar extreme ultraviolet flux in 26–34 nm (EUV_26–34) and the 10.7 cm solar radio flux (F_10.7). After removing the influence of solar radiation origin in GIM TEC, the analysis results show that the TEC around the forthcoming epicenter and its conjugate were significantly enhanced in the afternoon period of 8 March 2011, 3 days before the earthquake. The spatial distributions of the TEC anomalous and extreme enhancements indicate that the earthquake preparation process had brought with a TEC anomaly area of size approximately 1650 and 5700 km in the latitudinal and longitudinal directions, respectively.     

X-ray induced alterations in the differentiation and mineralization potential of murine preosteoblastic cells

To evaluate the effects of ionizing radiation (IR) on murine preosteoblastic cell differentiation, we directed OCT-1 cells to the osteoblastic lineage by treatment with a combination of β-glycerophosphate (β-GP), ascorbic acid (AA), and dexamethasone (Dex). In vitro mineralization was evaluated based on histochemical staining and quantification of the hydroxyapatite content of the extracellular bone matrix. Expression of mRNA encoding Runx2, transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), osteocalcin (OCN), and p21^CDKN1A was analyzed. Exposure to IR reduced the growth rate and diminished cell survival of OCT-1 cells under standard conditions. Notably, calcium content analysis revealed that deposition of mineralized matrix increased significantly under osteogenic conditions after X-ray exposure in a time-dependent manner. In this study, higher radiation doses exert significant overall effects on TGF-β1, OCN, and p21^CDKN1A gene expression, suggesting that gene expression following X-ray treatment is affected in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, we verified that Runx2 was suppressed within 24 h after irradiation at 2 and 4 Gy. Although further studies are required to verify the molecular mechanism, our observations strongly suggest that treatment with IR markedly alters the differentiation and mineralization process of preosteoblastic cells.     

纳米硅薄膜的氧化特性

将ｎｃ－Ｓｉ：Ｈ薄膜进行等离子和高温氧化处理，测量了样品的氢，氧含量，Ｒａｍａｎ谱，红外吸收谱，光致发光（ＰＬ），结果表明两种氧化方式都将氧掺入薄膜中，但不同处理方式氧在薄膜中的键合形式不同Ｒａｍａｎ谱表明氧化处理对薄膜中晶粒大小及晶态比没有影响，用晶粒－表面模型对氧化引起的光致发光（ＰＬ）蓝移进行了解释。     

月面高温下推力器可靠性试验

嫦娥五号着陆上升组合体落月后将经历月昼强红外辐射环境，由于推力器喷管导热影响，使推进剂管路与电磁阀面临高温环境，推进系统存在管路内氧化剂汽化和推力器性能下降甚至无法正常工作的问题，影响上升器月面起飞正常姿态控制。为了研究高温下推力器的工作性能，进行了高温下氟塑料阀芯与氧化剂相容性调研，提出了电磁阀和推力器可靠性增长及可靠性验证试验方法，分析了温度与电磁阀阀芯行程的关系，获取了高温环境下推力器的稳态及脉冲工作性能，在小子样条件下评估了推力器可靠性置信下限及月面起飞上升推进系统可靠度，通过月面高温排气及月面起飞上升姿态控制对研究结果进行了航天器在轨飞行验证，圆满完成了上升器月面起飞上升任务。所提出的研究方法及思路具有很好的工程适用性。     

The Lunar Terrestrial Observatory: Observing the Earth using photometers on the Moon’s surface

The Earth’s albedo is one of the least studied fundamental climate parameters. The albedo is a bi-directional variable, and there is a high degree of anisotropy in the light reflected from a given terrestrial surface. However, simultaneously observing from all points on Earth at all reflecting angles is a practical impossibility. Therefore, all measurements from which albedo can be inferred require assumptions and/or modeling to derive a good estimate. Nowadays, albedo measurements are taken regularly either from low Earth orbit satellite platforms or from ground-based measurements of the earthshine from the dark side of the Moon. But the results from these different measurements are not in satisfactory agreement. Clearly, the availability of different albedo databases and their inter-comparisons can help to constrain the assumptions necessary to reduce the uncertainty of the albedo estimates. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the development of robotic and manned exploration missions to the Moon. Returning to the Moon will enable diverse exploration and scientific opportunities. Here we discuss the possibility of a lunar-based Earth radiation budget monitoring experiment, the Lunar Terrestrial Observatory, and evaluate its scientific and practical advantages compared to the other, more standard, observing platforms. We conclude that a lunar-based terrestrial observatory can enable advances in Earth sciences, complementary to the present efforts, and to our understanding of the Earth’s climate.     

Dynamical evolution of high area-to-mass ratio debris released into GPS orbits

A large set of simulations, including all the relevant perturbations, was carried out to investigate the long-term dynamical evolution of fictitious high area-to-mass ratio (A/M) objects released, with a negligible velocity variation, in each of the six orbital planes used by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. As with similar objects discovered in near synchronous trajectories, long lifetime orbits, with mean motions of about 2 revolutions per day, were found possible for debris characterized by extremely high area-to-mass ratios. Often the lifetime exceeds 100 years up to A/M ∼ 45 m²/kg, decreasing rapidly to a few months above such a threshold. However, the details of the evolution, which are conditioned by the complex interplay of solar radiation pressure and geopotential plus luni-solar resonances, depend on the initial conditions. Different behaviors are thus possible. In any case, objects like those discovered in synchronous orbits, with A/M as high as 20–40 m²/kg, could also survive in this orbital regime, with semi-major axes close to the semi-synchronous values, with maximum eccentricities between 0.3 and 0.7, and with significant orbit pole precessions (faster and wider for increasing values of A/M), leading to inclinations between 30° and more than 90°.