Resonant Airborne Acoustic Emission for Nondestructive Testing and Defect Imaging in Composites

A new version of an acoustic emission mode which is different from its traditional counterpart is discussed in view of applications for nondestructive testing. It is based on the effect of acoustic waves generation from the defect area in ambient air by local standing wave vibration developed in this area at the defect resonant frequency. Another approach which does not require preliminary knowledge of local defect-resonance frequency is one that uses wideband acoustic activation by a noise-like input signal. The acoustic emission field from the defect area is a “fingerprint” of the radiation source, and thus is applicable to defect detection and imaging. This enables the use of commercial microphone scanning for detecting and imaging various defects in composites. An improvement in the acoustic-emission scanning mode based on a multiple-axis robot is studied to applications to complex shape components. A rapid, full-field imaging of the acoustic-emission field is implemented by means of an array of microphones (acoustic camera). Numerous case studies validate the potential of the resonant acoustic-emission modes for integration in the defect imaging system based on inexpensive, fully acoustic instrumental components.

Utilisation of an 810 nm diode laser for surgical management of oral soft tissues related to orthodontic treatment: A case series

The present case series demonstrates the efficacy of an 810 nm diode laser for the surgical management of oral soft tissues related to orthodontic treatment. Three orthodontic patients aged 16–23 years underwent operculectomy, ablation of soft-tissue overgrowth over orthodontic appliance and gingivectomy along with gingival recontouring procedures, respectively, using the 810 nm diode laser. In each case, an initiated laser fibre tip was utilised to ablate the tissue at the treatment site by making a light contact with the tissue (average power output = 1–1.6 W, continuous wave emission mode, fibre diameter = 400 µm, spot size = 0.0013 cm2, energy density = 124.9–199.9 J/cm2, irradiance = 796–1273 W/cm2, total energy dose = 300–480 J). The maximum total length of treatment was 300 s (5 min). None of the patients reported any instantaneous or delayed postoperative complications over six months. Utilisation of the 810 nm diode laser for surgical management of oral soft tissues related to orthodontic treatments can be considered safe, effective and justifiable over the conventional scalpel technique; however, it must be performed by trained and experienced clinicians only.

The Thermal Damage of Canine Vocal Fold by CO2 Laser Under Different Laser Emission Mode

Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the differences between continuous wave (CW) and UltraPulse (UP) on thermal damage of the laser with different power. Methods: Four adult beagle dogs underwent transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) using CO2 laser. The laser emission mode and power was CW (3 W, 5 W, and 8 W) and UP (3 W and 5 W), respectively. The tissue from 4 animals was evaluated histologically on postoperative days 1 and 3. The thermal damage of the laser was measured using slide scan system via SlideViewer version 1.5.5.2 software. Results: All dogs underwent TLM uneventfully. Under microscope examined, the laser damage area was composed of 2 parts: the vaporized zone (VPZ) and thermal damage area. The thermal damage area can be divided into thermal coagulative necrosis area (TCN) and hydropic degeneration area. The width of VPZ and TCN in UP mode was less than that in CW mode ( P < .01). The data indicate that lower laser power created less thermal damage ( P < .01). In addition, the width of VPZ on postoperative day 3 was less than that on postoperative day 1 ( P < .01). Conclusion: CO2 laser with UP and lower power could decrease the laser thermal damage and may offer more prompt wound healing.

The dynamic magnetosphere of Swift J1818.0−1607

Radio-loud magnetars display a wide variety of radio-pulse phenomenology seldom seen among the population of rotation-powered pulsars. Spectropolarimetry of the radio pulses from these objects has the potential to place constraints on their magnetic topology and unveil clues about the magnetar radio emission mechanism. Here we report on eight observations of the magnetar Swift J1818.0−1607 taken with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband Low receiver covering a wide frequency range from 0.7 to 4 GHz over a period of 5 months. The magnetar exhibits significant temporal profile evolution over this period, including the emergence of a new profile component with an inverted spectrum, two distinct types of radio emission mode switching, detected during two separate observations, and the appearance and disappearance of multiple polarization modes. These various phenomena are likely a result of ongoing reconfiguration of the plasma content and electric currents within the magnetosphere. Geometric fits to the linearly polarized position angle indicate we are viewing the magnetar at an angle of ∼99○ from the spin axis, and its magnetic and rotation axes are misaligned by ∼112○. While conducting these fits, we found the position angle swing had reversed direction on MJD 59062 compared to observations taken 15 days earlier and 12 days later. We speculate this phenomena may be evidence the radio emission from this magnetar originates from magnetic field lines associated with two co-located magnetic poles that are connected by a coronal loop.

Development of an atmospheric chemistry model coupled to the PALM model system 6.0: Implementation and first applications

In this article we describe the implementation of an online-coupled gas-phase chemistry model in the turbulence resolving PALM model system 6.0. The new chemistry model is part of the PALM-4U components (read: PALM for you; PALM for urban applications) which are designed for application of PALM model in the urban environment (Maronga et al., 2020). The latest version of the Kinetic PreProcessor (KPP, 2.2.3), has been utilised for the numerical integration of gas-phase chemical reactions. A number of tropospheric gas-phase chemistry mechanisms of different complexity have been implemented ranging from the photostationary state to more complex mechanisms such as CBM4, which includes major pollutants namely O3, NO, NO2, CO, a simplified VOC chemistry and a small number of products. Further mechanisms can also be easily added by the user. In this work, we provide a detailed description of the chemistry model, its structure along with its various features, input requirements, its application and limitations. A case study is presented to demonstrate the application of the new chemistry model in the urban environment. The computation domain of the case study is comprised of part of Berlin, Germany, covering an area of 6.71 × 6.71 km with a horizontal resolution of 10 m. We used "PARAMETERIZED" emission mode of the chemistry model that only considers emissions from traffic sources. Three chemical mechanisms of varying complexity and one no-reaction (passive) case have been applied and results are compared with observations from two permanent air quality stations in Berlin that fall within the computation domain. The results show importance of online photochemistry and dispersion of air pollutants in the urban boundary layer. The simulated NOx and O3 species show reasonable agreement with observations. The agreement is better during midday and poorest during the evening transition hours and at night. CBM4 and SMOG mechanisms show better agreement with observations than the steady state PHSTAT mechanism.

Proper motion, spectra, and timing of PSR J1813–1749 using Chandra and NICER

ABSTRACT PSR J1813–1749 is one of the most energetic rotation-powered pulsars known, producing a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) and gamma-ray and TeV emission, but whose spin period is only measurable in X-ray. We present analysis of two Chandra data sets that are separated by more than 10 yr and recent NICER data. The long baseline of the Chandra data allows us to derive a pulsar proper motion $\mu _{\rm RA}=(-0.067\pm 0.010)\, \mathrm{ arcsec}\,\mathrm{yr^{-1}}$ and $\mu _{\rm Dec.}=(-0.014\pm 0.007)\, \mathrm{ arcsec}\,\mathrm{yr^{-1}}$ and velocity $v_\perp \approx 900\!-\!1600\, \mathrm{km\, s^{-1}}$ (assuming a distance d = 3–5 kpc), although we cannot exclude a contribution to the change in measured pulsar position due to a change in brightness structure of the PWN very near the pulsar. We model the PWN and pulsar spectra using an absorbed power law and obtain best-fitting absorption $N_{\rm H}=(13.1\pm 0.9)\times 10^{22}\, \mathrm{cm^{-2}}$, photon index Γ = 1.5 ± 0.1, and 0.3–10 keV luminosity $L_{\rm X}\approx 5.4\times 10^{34}\, \mathrm{erg\, s^{-1}}(d/\mbox{ 5 kpc})^2$ for the PWN and Γ = 1.2 ± 0.1 and $L_{\rm X}\approx 9.3\times 10^{33}\, \mathrm{erg\, s^{-1}}(d/\mbox{ 5 kpc})^2$ for PSR J1813–1749. These values do not change between the 2006 and 2016 observations. We use NICER observations from 2019 to obtain a timing model of PSR J1813–1749, with spin frequency ν = 22.35 Hz and spin frequency time derivative $\dot{\nu }=(-6.428\pm 0.003)\times 10^{-11}\, \mathrm{Hz\, s^{-1}}$. We also fit ν measurements from 2009 to 2012 and our 2019 value and find a long-term spin-down rate $\dot{\nu }=(-6.3445\pm 0.0004)\times 10^{-11}\, \mathrm{Hz\, s^{-1}}$. We speculate that the difference in spin-down rates is due to glitch activity or emission mode switching.

Lifetime Considerations for Electrospray Thrusters

Ionic liquid electrospray thrusters are capable of producing microNewton precision thrust at a high thrust–power ratio but have yet to demonstrate lifetimes that are suitable for most missions. Accumulation of propellant on the extractor and accelerator grids is thought to be the most significant life-limiting mechanism. In this study, we developed a life model to examine the effects of design features, operating conditions, and emission properties on the porous accelerator grid saturation time of a thruster operating in droplet emission mode. Characterizing a range of geometries and operating conditions revealed that modifying grid aperture radius and grid spacing by 3–7% can significantly improve thruster lifetime by 200–400%, though a need for explicit mass flux measurement was highlighted. Tolerance analysis showed that misalignment can result in 20–50% lifetime reduction. In addition, examining the impact of electron backstreaming showed that increasing aperture radius produces a significant increase in backstreaming current compared to changing grid spacing. A study of accelerator grid bias voltages revealed that applying a reasonably strong accelerator grid potential (in the order of a kV) can minimize backstreaming current to negligible levels for a range of geometries.