2,927 research outputs found
Cosmogenic radionuclides in a weathered, 2.8 million year old H chondrite found on top of Frontier Mountain, Antarctica
No full textCosmogenic radionuclide evidence of a large and heterogeneous H3-6 chondrite shower: Frontier Mountain 90174
No full textTektites glasses from Belize, Central America: Petrography, geochemistry, and search for a possible meteoritic component
No full textThe presence of tektite-like glasses from a geographically restricted area in Belize (Central America) has been known for several decades. We comprehensively studied 18 such Belize glasses by a variety of petrographic and geochemical methods, including major and trace element analysis, radiogenic isotopic composition (Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Re-Os), water content, oxidation state, and cosmogenic radionuclides. The aims were to determine their compositional variation, their mode of formation and possible source rocks, and their relation to known tektites, and to search for evidence of an extraterrestrial component.In terms of petrography, the samples are similar to tektites from the four "classical" strewn fields, with the presence of lechatelierites, schlieren, and vesicles; these are also widely accepted indicators of an impact origin. No close similarities to volcanic glasses are evident. Water contents are very low, and iron oxidation states are mostly reduced, in both cases similar to observations for other tektites. The geochemical and isotopic data presented, such as Cr, Co and Ni elemental abundances and interelement ratios, as well as trace element patterns are typical for local and regional volcanics from the active Central American Arc. Particular similarities to material comparable to volcanic rocks from Honduras or Guatemala are noted. This is confirmed by Sr-Nd isotope signatures of the Belize glasses, showing close similarities to Central American volcanics in general, and Honduran and Guatemalan volcanic, in particular. Osmium concentrations and Os-187/Os-188 ratios are comparable to arc volcanics from world-wide locations, but - in a few of the samples - elevated Ir concentrations, near-chondritic Pt/Ir and Os-187/Os-188 ratios can also be interpreted with the admixture of a minor meteoritic component to some of the Belize samples. Be-10 concentrations are consistent with values typical of both, young or deeply buried soils and with values for Central American volcanics, which carry subducted Be-10.Geochemical data clearly indicate a source different from that of the Australasian tektites. Both isotope data sets for the Belize glasses indicate a close relationship to local arc lavas, especially those from Guatemala and Honduras, suggesting that the glasses were not deposited very far from their source. The main evidence that the Belize glasses are of impact origin are their petrographic characteristics and low water content. The evidence from Be-10 is consistent with, but does not require, a model of formation for the Belize glasses by an impact on loosely consolidated surface sediments exposed to rain. A probable meteoritic component is low and heterogeneously distributed. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd
Comparative feasibility study of a 30 MW disruptive floater solution with a 15 MW PivotBuoy and a benchmark 15 MW semi-submersible floater in the Bay of Biscay
No full textThis paper investigates the technical, life cycle, and economic feasibility of a 30 MW upscaled downwind turbine, comparing it to a 15 MW X1 Wind PivotBuoy downwind turbine and a benchmark 15 MW IEA Umaine VolturnUS-S upwind turbine in the 450 MW Sud de la Bretagne I wind farm site. The study is significant due to the rising energy demand, the potential for decreasing the levelized cost of energy with increased turbine size, and the optimized use of space. The size limit of current upwind turbine designs could be addressed using a downwind turbine solution.The research is conducted by modelling the global dynamic response of the structure using OpenFAST and computing the natural frequencies and stresses using a finite element model. A lifecycle analysis is performed to identify potential pitfalls and bottlenecks by analysing the individual lifecycle phases. The economic feasibility is assessed by simulating the annual energy production using TOPFARM and utilizing structural analysis and lifecycle assessment to quantify capital, operational, and abandonment expenditures. Based on the annual energy production and the performance indicators the levelized cost of energy is calculated.The findings indicate that while the global stability is within boundaries, the stress in members is too high with a simple scale-up of the proposed design. Bottlenecks are found in lifting operations and supply chain readiness. The levelized cost of energy and capital expenditure increased due to substructure self-weight, rendering the proposed 30 MW scale-up currently unfeasible when compared to the other two wind farms.These findings are important as they demonstrate that the 15 MW X1 Wind PivotBuoy is not scalable without design changes. The levelized cost of energy does not decrease with an increased floater solution. The 15 MW X1 Wind PivotBuoy downwind turbine seems more economically viable, making it a more interesting option for future development.Civil Engineerin
Short-circuit characteristics of superconducting permanent magnet generators for 10 MW wind turbines
No full textSuperconducting permanent magnet generators (SCPMGs) are a potential candidate for 10 MW direct-drive wind turbine applications. This paper presents two 10 MW SCPMG designs using MgB<sub>2</sub> cables for the armature winding and investigates the short-circuit characteristics of the designed SCPMGs. The first part of the results shows that the SCPMGs can double the shear stress of a conventional low-speed permanent magnet (PM) generator (from 65 kPa to 130 kPa) whilst avoiding demagnetization of the PMs in rated-load operation. However, the power factor has to drop to a range of 0.7-0.8. The second part of the results shows that during a sudden three-phase short circuit, the superconducting armature winding is prone to quench and the PMs are likely to be demagnetized in both proposed designs.Accepted Author ManuscriptTransport Engineering and Logistic
An Ultrasonically Powered System Using an AlN PMUT Receiver for Delivering Instantaneous mW-Range DC Power to Biomedical Implants
No full textAluminum Nitride (AlN) Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (PMUTs) are gaining interest for biomedical implant power due to biocompatibility and lowtemperature processing. However, due to the low piezoelectric coefficient of AlN PMUTs, storage capacitors are often used to accumulate ultrasonic power transferred over an extended time. The accumulated energy is then used to power a DC load, which leads to a long start-up time, and insufficient duty cycle for some applications. We present an ultrasonically powered system for biomedical implants capable of delivering mW-range instantaneous power to DC loads, without pre-storing it. The system features a 25 mm2 AlN PMUT, an inductive matching network, and an application-specific power management integrated circuit(ASIC). For an acoustic intensity of 360 mW/cm2 at the surface of the PMUT, an open-circuit voltage of 1.11 V and an aperture efficiency of 30.5 % are measured. Furthermore, by connecting a series-matching inductor to the PMUT, the highest-reported power delivered to the load (PDL) of 6.4 mW is measured over an optimal load of 7.6 Ω. Finally, together with the ASIC and at the intensity of 108 mW/cm2, our system delivers 1.04 mW DC power to a 3.3 kΩ load, which is over two orders of magnitude higher than the previously reported average DC power for AlN PMUTs.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Bio-ElectronicsElectronic Components, Technology and Material
Inversion of coseismic deformation due to the 8th February 2016, Mw 4.2 earthquake at Los Humeros (Mexico) inferred from DInSAR
No full textOn the 8th of February 2016, a Mw 4.2 earthquake was detected inside the Los Humeros caldera, located in the eastern sector of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The event occurred after a sharp increase in the injection rate at the Los Humeros Geothermal Field and it was recorded by the seismic monitoring network of the power plant. The earthquake was felt by the local population and it caused damage in the power plant infrastructure. The focal mechanism solution of a previous study based on seismological data shows a reverse movement with a minor left-lateral component: Mw=4.2, depth=1500m, strike=169°, dip=61°, rake=42°. We have performed a geodetic and geomechanical analysis of the seismic source event based on ground deformation inferred from DInSAR. We used ascending and descending Sentinel-1 differential interferograms to retrieve the horizontal and vertical components of the co-seismic deformation. Subsequently, we inverted the estimated deformation to obtain the solution of an activated fault using the Okada model. These results shed light on the geomechanical aspects of the event and can help to understand the effects of field operations interacting with pre-existing structural features and active tectonic processes in the Los Humeros caldera.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Mathematical Geodesy and Positionin
Towards a True Author Entry System for CAI
No full textCAI course authors have been faced with the disc tint problem of having to learn an instructional coding language before they can get their courses into the computer. A system has been devised so that an author may easily write his course in English on course planning forms and then a pre-processor will generate the coding which will be input for the machine assembler
A 19.8-mW Eddy-Current Displacement Sensor Interface with Sub-Nanometer Resolution
No full textThis paper presents an eddy-current sensor (ECS) interface intended for sub-nanometer (sub-nm) displacement sensing in hi-tech applications. The interface employs a 126-MHz excitation frequency to mitigate the skin effect, and achieve high resolution and stability. An efficient on-chip sensor offset compensation scheme is introduced which removes sensor-offset proportional to the standoff distance. To assist in the ratiometric suppression of noise and drift of the excitation oscillator, the ECS interface consists of a highly linear amplitude demodulation scheme that employs passive capacitors for voltage-to-current (V2I) conversion. Using a printed circuit board-based pseudo-differential ECS, stability tests were performed which demonstrated a thermal drift of <7.3 nm/°C and long-term drift of only 29.5 nm over a period of 60 h. The interface achieves an effective noise floor of 13.4 pm Hz which corresponds to a displacement resolution of 0.6 nm in a 2-kHz noise bandwidth. The ECS interface is fabricated in TSMC 0.18- μm CMOS technology and dissipates only 19.8 mW from a 1.8-V supply.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic InstrumentationMicroelectronic
A 0.96-mW dB-Linear Variable Gain Amplifier With 0.4-dB Linearity Error Over a 62.4-dB Gain Tuning Range
No full textThis letter presents a low-power dB-linear variable gain amplifier (VGA) with a small linear-in-dB error over a wide gain tuning range. An exponential current ratio is realized in the linear-in-dB control circuit based on the subthreshold I-V characteristic. The VGA is built with subthreshold common-gate transistors as current steering, accurately replicating the exponential current ratio and forming a tunable gain. Implemented in 55-nm CMOS technology, the proposed VGA occupies a compact active area of 0.011 mm2 excluding the buffer. It achieves a linear-in-dB error of 0.4 dB over a gain tuning range of 62.4 dB, corresponding to the state-of-the-art relative error of 0.6%. The proposed design shows constant 80-MHz bandwidth with a power consumption of 0.96 mW. Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Electronic Instrumentatio
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