Production,in a stationary state,of solid material in a coma of cometary nuclei under the action of solar radiation

A stationary state of production of solid material in the coma of a comet is sought by assuming a production and dynamics of solid grains liberated during the vaporization of cometary nuclei under the action of solar radiation.     

A magnetohydrodynamic approach for interpreting solar polarization bursts at 7 GHz

A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) approach is presented that appears to be comprehensive for the interpretation of the recently discovered microwave solar events, in which only the degree of circular polarization changes, without any increase in the output of the total solar flux. On the basis of this explanation experimental evidence is suggested for Alfvén waves, in relation to the velocity fields in the solar chromosphere.     

Miocene rhyolitic welded tuff infilling a funnel-shaped eruption conduit Shiotani, southeast of Matsue, SW Japan

 At Shiotani, SW Japan, rhyolitic welded tuff forms a steep-sided funnel-shaped body, confined by Paleogene granitic rocks to an elliptical area 1–1.5 km across. The Shiotani welded tuff is pervasively welded and foliated concordantly with the contact that dips inward at angles of 70–90°. In contrast, nearby contemporary volcaniclastic deposits are non-welded and gently inclined. Near the contact with the granite, the tuff is plastically deformed and shows lineations that plunge inward at angles of 40–65°. Lithic and crystal clasts in the rheomorphic outer part are rotated in a plane normal to the foliations and parallel to the lineations indicating downward flow of the welded tuff. The geometry and internal structures suggest that the Shiotani welded tuff was emplaced and welded in a funnel-shaped eruption conduit. Upon collapse of a plinian or phreatoplinian eruption column, the majority of the conduit-filling pyroclasts probably fell back en masse into the conduit. Heat and steam from underlying magma and diffusion of interstitial volatiles into the glass perhaps reduced the viscosity of juvenile pyroclasts and facilitated welding in the conduit, especially at deep levels. The hot welded pyroclasts then flowed down the conduit wall during welding compaction and retreat of the magma. These processes resulted in increased welding toward the contacts and welding foliations concordant with the steep wall. Emplacement of nearby correlative volcaniclastic mass-flow deposits in a shelf to upper bathyal environment suggests a possibility that, when active, the Shiotani conduit was under the sea. Welding compaction would occur even under the sea provided that the steam generated in the upper part of the conduit fill prevented water access. Received: 28 February 1996 / Accepted: 5 May 1997     

Forced vibration test of a building with semi‐active damper system

The authors developed a semi‐active hydraulic damper (SHD) and installed it in an actual building in 1998. This was the first application of a semi‐active structural control system that can control a building's response in a large earthquake by continuously changing the device's damping coefficient. A forced vibration test was carried out by an exciter with a maximum force of 100 kN to investigate the building's vibration characteristics and to determine the system's performance. As a result, the primary resonance frequency and the damping ratio of a building that the SHDs were not jointed to, decreased as the exciting force increased due to the influence of non‐linear members such as PC curtain walls. The equivalent damping ratio was estimated by approximating the resonance curves using the steady‐state response of the SDOF bilinear hysteretic system. After the eight SHDs were jointed to the building, the system's performance was identified by a response control test for steady‐state vibration. The elements that composed the semi‐active damper system demonstrated the specified performance and the whole system operated well. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictability of storm wave heights in the ice-free Beaufort Sea

A predictability study on wave forecast of the Arctic Ocean is necessary to help identify hazardous areas and ensure sustainable shipping along the trans-Arctic routes. To assist with validation of the Arctic Ocean wave model, two drifting wave buoys were deployed off Point Barrow, Alaska for two months in September 2016. Both buoys measured significant wave heights exceeding 4 m during two different storm events on 19 September and 22 October. The NOAA-WAVEWATCH III^? model with 16-km resolution was forced using wind and sea ice reanalysis data and obtained general agreement with the observation. The September storm was reproduced well; however, model accuracy deteriorated in October with a negative wave height bias of around 1 m during the October storm. Utilising reanalysis data, including the most up-to-date ERA5, this study investigated the cause: grid resolution, wind and ice forcing, and in situ sea level pressure observations assimilated for reanalysis. The analysis has found that there is a 20% reduction of in situ SLP observations in the area of interest, presumably due to fewer ships and deployment options during the sea ice advance period. The 63-member atmospheric ensemble reanalysis, ALERA2, has shown that this led to a larger ensemble spread in the October monthly mean wind field compared to September. Since atmospheric physics is complex during sea ice advance, it is speculated that the elevated uncertainty of synoptic-scale wind caused the negative wave model bias. This has implications for wave hindcasts and forecasts in the Arctic Ocean.     

Control algorithm for estimating future responses of active variable stiffness structure

A control algorithm has been developed for controlling Active Variable Stiffness (AVS) structures. This algorithm analyses information of an observed seismic excitation, estimates the future structural responses and determines how to alter the structure stiffness. An objective structure is assumed to possess N on-off elements whose states are controlled by the proposed algorithm. That is, at a given moment t_k, (1) seismic excitation information is expressed by an Auto Regressive (AR) model as the identification model; (2) future excitation information is predicted using the AR model; (3) future responses due to predicted excitation are estimated; (4) based on the initial condition at t_k, the responses of 2^N possible structural states from t_k, to t_k+L are calculated; (5) the state which minimizes the input energy during t_L is selected; and (6) immediately after t_k, on-off elements are set up and subjected to the selected states. The effectiveness of the induced algorithm is confirmed by numerical experiments on a model of a three-storey building under sine and seismic excitations.