Award Data

GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR PREPARING LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT PERFLUOROALKYL ETHERS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED. THE FLUORINATED PRODUCTS, SERVING AS MODEL COMPOUNDS FOR HIGHER MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYMERS, WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE STABILITY PARAMETERS FOR HIGHER MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYMERS. SIMPLE MOLECULES, TYPICALLY DIMETHYLETHER DERIVATIVES FOR THE BASIC REPEATING UNIT OF THE POLYMER OF INTEREST, WILL BE SYNTHESI ...

THIS PROGRAM WILL ATTEMPT TO BRING EXPERT SYSTEMS AND NATURAL LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGIES INTO THE ARENA OF RELIABILITY ANALYSIS, FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. BY INTEGRATING THESE TECHNOLOGIES INTO THE RELIABILITY ANALYSIS, THE USER BASE AND THE DOMAIN OF APPLICATIONS CAN BE SUBSTANTIALLY EXPANDED. RELIABILITY ANALYSIS ASSOCIATED WITH DESIGN, MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATIONS DECISIONS CAN POTENTIALLY BE PERFORM ...

A KNOWLEDGE-ENGINEERING APPROACH WILL BE USED TO ACQUIRE THE EXPERTISE NEEDED TO OPERATE LARGE POWER PLANTS AT HIGH EFFICIENCY. THE FOCUS WILL BE ON THE ABILITY OF SKILLED OPERATORS TO MONITOR THE PLANT HEAT- RATE PERFORMANCE AS A MEANS FOR DIAGNOSING INCIPIENT FAILURES EARLY, RECOGNIZING DETERIORATING PERFORMANCE, AND KEEPING THE PLANT OPTIMALLY CONFIGURED. THIS ESSENTIAL SKILL WILL BE INTEGRATED ...

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THE TECHNICAL REASIBILITY OF USING A MIXED FLUID ATTRITOR (MFA) FOR THE SEPARATION OF MINERAL MATTER FROM MICRONIZED COAL WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE MFA SIZE REDUCES COAL IN A DISPERSION OF FLUIDS FOLLOWED BY SEPARATION OF THE MICRONIZED COAL AND MINERAL MATTER. THE DISPERSION IS PREPARED IN THE MFA WHERE SEPARATION IS ALSO CARRIED OUT. THE METHOD IS UNIQUE IN THAT CLEAN COAL PARTICLES ARE "DEACTIV ...

SURFACE IONIZATION IS A PROCESS IN WHICH AN ATOM OR MOLECULE WITH A LOW IONIZATION POTENTIAL, IN CONTACT WITH A HOT METAL SURFACE WITH A HIGH WORK FUNCTION, TRANSFERS AN ELECTRON TO THE SURFACE AND IS EVAPORATED AS A POSITIVE ION. ALKALI-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS IN COMMON SMOKES AND DUSTS ARE SUFFICIENTLY PLENTIFUL TO ALLOW THE DETECTION OF DUST THROUGH SURFACES IONIZATION. IN THE PROCESS THE PARTICLE ...

EXTRANUCLEAR LABORATORIES WILL INVESTIGATE A DETECTOR FOR IONS IN A MASS SPECTROMETER IN WHICH IONS ARE ACCELERATED TOHIGH ENERGY AND THEN PERMITTED TO STRIKE A METAL SURFACE, WHERE THEY PRODUCE SECONDARY ELECTRONS. THE ELECTRONS ARE THEN ACCELERATED TO A SCINTILLATOR WHERE THEY PRODUCE PHOTONS TO ACTUATE A CLOSED PHOTOMULTIPLIER TUBE. THIS TYPEOF DETECTOR IS KNOWN AS A DALY DOORKNOB DETECTOR WHEN ...

THE NEED FOR TACTILE SENSORS FOR GRIPPING MEMBERS EMPLOYED IN INTELLIGENT MACHINES HAS BEEN SHOWN IN THE ROBOTICS FIELD. THE SENSING NEEDS INCLUDE SHAPES, FEATURES, FORCE, TEXTURE, PROXIMITY, AND SLIPPAGE. PHASE I WILL ADDRESS CAPACITANCE TECHNIQUES FOR MEASURING TEXTURE AND SLIPPAGE. PHASE II WOULD INCLUDE SENSING OF SHAPES, FEATURES, AND PROXIMITY IN THE SAME CAPACITANCE SENSOR ARRAY AS IS CONTE ...

THIS PROJECT IS CONCERNED WITH RESEARCH RELATED TO THE DESIGN AND PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTICALLY CONTROLLED PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA. THE SYSTEM WILL OPERATE IN THE MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER WAVE FREQUENCIES. IT WILL UTILIZE MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE CIRCUITS AND FIBEROPTIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.

AN ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE IS PROPOSED WHICH RELATES MATERIAL DEGRADATION OF THE CONCRETE TO STRAINS IN THE REINFORCEMENT. THE REINFORCEMENT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE CONCRETE TO PRODUCE A HOMOGENEOUS MATERIAL. THE MODEL WILL DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TENSION AND SHEAR CRACK BEHAVIOR -THE TWO MAIN MODES OF CONCRETE FAILURE. THE CONCRETE REINFORCEMENT INTERACTION WILL BE MODELED TH ...