Abstract:
Vibrations are damped by determining two principal frequencies of excitation for the structure and coupling thereto a damping member (DFFDR) to produce an absorber. The spring damper characteristics of the absorber are determined at these frequencies and the displacment of the damping member is monitored. The monitored displacement of the damping member is processed together with the spring damping characteristics of the absorber to output a signal (f). This produces two frequencies of vibration in the damping member (DFFDR) substantially equal to the determined frequencies of excitation and thereby produces resonance of the damping member (DFFDR) at the determined frequencies of excitation. The resonance is effective to damp the vibrations at the determined frequencies of excitation.
Abstract:
Test apparatus for a high voltage cable installation includes a high AC voltage source (10) having the frequency range intended to be carried by the cable installation and a high DC voltage source (16). A switch (18) alternately passes positive and negative polarities of the DC voltage, and the AC voltage source and the alternating polarity DC voltage output from the switch are coupled while isolating the voltage sources from each other. The resulting alternating polarity DC-biased AC voltage (26) is injected into the cable installation to produce indications of incipient faults.
Abstract:
A method and apparatus for locating an incipient fault (F) at a point along the length of an insulated power line (C) includes the application of the excitation voltage at an open end (A) of the power line (C). The signal pulse transmitted along the power line (C) to the open end (A) is passed through a high pass filter (18, 20). The filtered signal is amplified (22, 24) and passed through a band pass filter (28) to remove a high frequency portion of the signal containing a large proportion of noise relative to the frequency of the partial discharge frequency from the incipient fault (F). This filtered signal is passed to a digital storage device (32) which also receives the amplified signal directly from the amplifier (26) and stores digital data. The stored digital data is processed to identify the peaks reflecting the point of partial discharge in the power line.
Abstract:
A method for removing volatile organic compounds from a contaminated gas stream (2) includes contacting the contaminated gas stream (2) with a nonvolatile organic liquid absorbent stream (4) under conditions effective to allow absorption of the volatile organic compound from the gas stream (2) into the absorbent stream (4) and separation of the absorbed volatile organic compound from the absorbent in separation apparatus (12) to provide a recycled absorbent stream (14) and a reclaimed volatile organic compound stream (28). An apparatus for removing volatile organic compounds from a contaminated air stream includes means (6) for contacting the contaminated air stream with an absorbent to allow absorption of the volatile organic compound by the absorbent and means (12) for separating the absorbed volatile organic compound from the absorbent.
Abstract:
Nonforce-imparting or passive dental components and appliances are provided possessing not only greater stiffness and strength but also generally higher mechanical properties than those exhibited by the commonly used dental polymers. They also are more esthetic and easier to process, form and adjust than dental metallic alloys, thereby allowing for superior and unique designs. The passive dental appliances or structural components are fabricated from an effective fiber reinforced composite material comprised essentially of a polymeric matrix and a fiber component embedded within the matrix. The fiber component of the composite material constitutes greater than 20 percent by weight of the composite material and the modulus of elasticity of the composite is greater than 0.5 x 10 psi. The passive components are produced by initially compounding an effective fiber-reinforced composite material having the requisite stiffness and strength characteristics, fiber orientation and void free wetting of the fibers and thereafter forming the composite into the dental device to achieve improved aesthetics coupled with ease of processing and structural stability.
Abstract:
A new chemical method for the synthesis of nanostructured metal, metal alloys, metal carbides, and metal alloy carbides, such as nickel, chromium, cobalt, iron, molybdenum, tungsten, and vanadium, nickel/chromium, iron/titanium, iron/nickel, tungsten/cobalt, iron/chromium/molybdenum, and nickel chromium carbide and iron titanium carbide is presented. The method involves reductive decomposition of an organic solution of at least one metal precursor using sodium triethyl borohydride. Preferably, the reducing agent is introduced by means of atomization. After co-precipitation of a nanoscale metal or metal alloy powder, low temperature annealing is used to form nanostructured crystalline powders, or low temperature gas phase carburization to form nanostructured Ni-Cr3C2 cermet powder.
Abstract:
This invention relates to methods whereby reprocessed nanoparticle powder feeds, nanoparticle liquid suspensions, and metalorganic liquids are used in conventional thermal spray deposition to form nanostructured coatings. In one embodiment, the nanostructured feeds consist of spherical agglomerates (16) produced by reprocessing as-synthesized nanostructured powders (10, 12, 14). In another embodiment, a fine dispersion of nanoparticles is directly injected into a combustion flame or plasma thermal spray device to form nanostructured coatings. In another embodiment, liquid metalorganic chemical precursors are directly injected into the combustion flame of a plasma thermal spray device, whereby nanoparticle synthesis, melting and quenching are performed in a single operation. In these methods, ultrasound is used for disintegration of the as-synthesized particle agglomerates (10, 12, 14), nanoparticle dispersion in liquid media and liquid precursor atomization.
Abstract:
Two smoothed images, each processed with a different smoothing factor, can be subtracted providing the information difference between the least smoothed and the most smoothed data set. The smoothing technique of this invention comprises a two-dimensional digital hysteresis filter utilizing a "two-dimensional automatically adjusting variable mask". As a result, the filter is independent of the image size and content and cannot alter the size of any significant intensity features. The two-dimensional hysteresis smoothing technique of this invention calculates the intensity value of smoothed pixels using a set of one-dimensional hysteresis lines at various angles running through each pixel in an image. These one-dimensional hysteresis values are added together and divided by the number of hysteresis lines to get the output value for the pixel. The intensity processing technique provides the basis for a separation of the image information into basic information groups.
Abstract:
A large area video camera is suitable for high energy imaging applications. The sensor-target (20) of the camera tube (10) is composed of T1Br, T1I, PbI2, or PbBr2 or a two layer structure comprising CsI and a photoconductive layer (50) of materials such as amorphous silicon, amorphous selenium, cadmium sulphide, antimony trisulfide or antimony sulphide oxysulphide. A disclosed tube (10) incorporates various modifications for dealing with problems associated with stray capacitance, premature electron leakage and secondary electron emission.
Abstract:
Targeted polynucleotide delivery to cells is enhanced by coupling to a virus capable of disrupting cellular endosomes, a molecular complex which redirects viral specificity to the targeted cell and carries the polynucleotide to be delivered. Viruses useful in this invention, such as adenovirus, are generally those which possess exposed capsid proteins and which are capable of disrupting endosomal vesicles upon internalization by a receptor-bearing cell. The modified virus can be used (in vivo, in vitro), or (ex vivo) to redirect viral cell-binding specificity and to enhance the selective delivery of polynucleotides to target cells.