Experimental study on loss factor for corrugated plates by bandwidth method

The material loss factor for technically orthotropic plates was measured by half-power bandwidth method. Rectangular and trapezoidal corrugated plates of steel were considered. A simple isotropic steel plate was also considered for comparison of the results. The concept of single degree of freedom system was adopted. The tests were undertaken at very low frequency range (0–100) Hz. The plate models were suspended freely with two wires to minimize or prevent excessive extraneous energy dissipation. Out of plane point force, random in nature was applied to the top middle of the plates and the responses were measured from the middle point of the plates by FFT analyzer using miniature small mass accelerometer as sensor. The aim of these tests is to investigate the effects of bending rigidity and mode orders over material loss factor. The values of estimated modal damping loss factors are compared and tabulated for the plates models considered. Natural frequencies of some of the initial modes of the plates are also presented.It is observed that the higher the value of bending rigidity of the plates, the larger the values of loss factor of it. There was a significant increase in value of loss factor in corrugated plates to that of the isotropic plate.     

Early In-orbit Performance of Scanning Sky Monitor Onboard AstroSat

We report the in-orbit performance of Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM) onboard AstroSat. The SSM operates in the energy range 2.5 to 10 keV and scans the sky to detect and locate transient X-ray sources. This information of any interesting phenomenon in the X-ray sky as observed by SSM is provided to the astronomical community for follow-up observations. Following the launch of AstroSat on 28th September, 2015, SSM was commissioned on October 12th, 2015. The first power ON of the instrument was with the standard X-ray source, Crab in the field-of-view. The first orbit data revealed the basic expected performance of one of the detectors of SSM, SSM1. Following this in the subsequent orbits, the other detectors were also powered ON to find them perform in good health. Quick checks of the data from the first few orbits revealed that the instrument performed with the expected angular resolution of 12’ \(\times \) 2.5\(^\circ \) and effective area in the energy range of interest. This paper discusses the instrument aspects along with few on-board results immediately after power ON.     

Sedimentational,structural and migmatitic history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province,southern India

The earliest decipherable record of the Dharwar tectonic province is left in the 3.3 Ga old gneissic pebbles in some conglomerates of the Dharwar Group, in addition to the 3.3–3.4 Ga old gneisses in some areas. A sialic crust as the basement for Dharwar sedimentation is also indicated by the presence of quartz schists and quartzites throughout the Dharwar succession. Clean quartzites and orthoquartzite-carbonate association in the lower part of the Dharwar sequence point to relatively stable platform and shelf conditions. This is succeeded by sedimentation in a rapidly subsiding trough as indicated by the turbidite-volcanic rock association. Although conglomerates in some places point to an erosional surface at the contact between the gneisses and the Dharwar supracrustal rocks, extensive remobilization of the basement during the deformation of the cover rocks has largely blurred this interface. This has also resulted in accordant style and sequence of structures in the basement and cover rocks in a major part of the Dharwar tectonic province. Isoclinal folds with attendant axial planar schistosity, coaxial open folds, followed in turn by non-coaxial upright folds on axial planes striking nearly N-S, are decipherable both in the “basement” gneisses and the schistose cover rocks. The imprint of this sequence of superposed deformation is registered in some of the charnockitic terranes also, particularly in the Biligirirangan Hills, Shivasamudram and Arakalgud areas. The Closepet Granite, with alignment of feldspar megacrysts parallel to the axial planes of the latest folds in the adjacent schistose rocks, together with discrete veins of Closepet Granite affinity emplaced parallel to the axial planes of late folds in the Peninsular Gneiss enclaves, suggest that this granite is late-tectonic with reference to the last deformation in the Dharwar tectonic province. Enclaves of tonalite and migmatized amphibolite a few metres across, with a fabric athwart to and overprinted by the earliest structures traceable in the supracrustal rocks as well as in a major part of the Peninsular Gneiss, point to at least one deformation, an episode of migmatization and one metamorphic event preceding the first folding in the Dharwar sequence. This record of pre-Dharwar deformation and metamorphism is corroborated also by the pebbles of gneisses and schists in the conglomerates of the Dharwar Group. Volcanic rocks within the Dharwar succession as well as some of the components of the Peninsular Gneiss give ages of about 3.0 Ga. A still younger age of about 2.6 Ga is recorded in some volcanic rocks of the Dharwar sequence, a part of the Peninsular Gneiss, Closepet Granite and some charnockites. These, together with the 3.3 Ga old gneisses and 3.4 Ga old ages of zircons in some charnockites, furnish evidence for three major thermal events during the 700 million year history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province.     

Propagation of Love type waves in a non-homogeneous layer lying over a vertically semi-infinite homogeneous isotropic medium

Summary The aim of this paper is to study the propagation of love-type waves in a homogeneous half-space overlain by a heterogeneous crust with various types of heterogenety. Frequency equations are obtained in each of the cases and numerical calculations are done in some cases and the results thus obtained are compared with those done byJeffreys andMitra [3]²).     

Variable 21-cm absorption at z=0.3127

We report multi-epoch Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) H  i observations of the z  = 0.3127 damped absorber towards the quasar PKS 1127−145, which reveal variability in both the absorption profile and the flux of the background source, over a time-scale of a few days.
The observed variations cannot be explained by simple interstellar scintillation (ISS) models where there are only one or two scintillating components and all of the ISS occurs in the Galaxy. More complicated models, where either there are more scintillating components or some of the ISS occurs in the interstellar medium of the z =0.3127 absorber, may be acceptable. However, the variability can probably be best explained in models incorporating motion (on sub-VLBI scales) of a component of the background continuum source, with or without some ISS.
All models producing the variable 21-cm absorption profile require small-scale variations in the 21-cm optical depth of the absorber. The length-scale for the opacity variations is ∼0.1 pc in pure superluminal motion models, and ∼10 pc in pure ISS models. Models involving subluminal motion, combined with scintillation of the moving component, require opacity variations on far smaller scales of ∼ 10–100 au .     

GMRT observations of interstellar clouds in the 21cm line of atomic hydrogen

Nearby interstellar clouds with high (|ν|≥10km s⁻¹) random velocities although easily detected in NaI and CaII lines have hitherto not been detected (in emission or absorption) in the HI 21cm line. We describe here deep Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) HI absorption observations toward radio sources with small angular separation from bright O and B stars whose spectra reveal the presence of intervening high random velocity CaII absorbing clouds. In 5 out of the 14 directions searched we detect HI 21cm absorption features from these clouds. The mean optical depth of these detections is ∼0.09 and FWHM is ∼10km s⁻¹, consistent with absorption arising from CNM clouds.     

Foregrounds for redshifted 21-cm studies of reionization: Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope 153-MHz observations

Foreground subtraction is the biggest challenge for future redshifted 21-cm observations to probe reionization. We use a short Giant Meter Wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observation at 153 MHz to characterize the statistical properties of the background radiation across ∼1° to subarcmin angular scales, and across a frequency band of 5 MHz with 62.5 kHz resolution. The statistic we use is the visibility correlation function, or equivalently the angular power spectrum   C _l   . We present the results obtained from using relatively unsophisticated, conventional data calibration procedures. We find that even fairly simple-minded calibration allows one to estimate the visibility correlation function at a given frequency   V ₂( U , 0)  . From our observations, we find that   V ₂( U , 0)  is consistent with foreground model predictions at all angular scales except the largest ones probed by our observations where the model predictions are somewhat in excess. On the other hand, the visibility correlation between different frequencies  κ( U , Δν)  seems to be much more sensitive to calibration errors. We find a rapid decline in  κ( U , Δν)  , in contrast with the prediction of less than 1 per cent variation across 2.5 MHz. In this case, however, it seems likely that a substantial part of the discrepancy may be due to limitations of data reduction procedures.     

Observed oceanic response to tropical cyclone Jal from a moored buoy in the south-western Bay of Bengal

Upper oceanographic and surface meteorological time-series observations from a moored buoy located at 9.98°N, 88°E in the south-western Bay of Bengal (BoB) were used to quantify variability in upper ocean, forced by a tropical cyclone (TC) Jal during November 2010. Before the passage of TC Jal, salinity and temperature profiles showed a typical BoB post-monsoon structure with relatively warm (30 °C) and low-saline (32.8 psu) waters in the upper 30- to 40-m layer, and relatively cooler and higher salinity (35 psu) waters below. After the passage of cyclone, an abrupt increase of 1 psu (decrease of 1 °C) in salinity (temperature) in the near-surface layers (up to 40-m depth) was observed from buoy measurements, which persisted up to 10–12 days during the relaxation stage of cyclone. Mixed layer heat budget analysis showed that vertical processes are the dominant contributors towards the observed cooling. The net surface heat flux and horizontal advection together contributed approximately 33 % of observed cooling, during TC Jal forced stage. Analysis showed the existence of strong inertial oscillation in the thermocline region and currents with periodicity of ～2.8 days. During the relaxation stage of the cyclone, upward movement of thermocline in near-inertial frequencies played significant role in mixed layer temperature and salinity variability, by much freer turbulent exchange between the mixed layer and thermocline.