Fraction Of Cycle Time Research Articles

Experimental validation of the mechanistic scale-up methodology of gas–solid spouted beds using radioactive particle tracking (RPT)

The very high-temperature reactors (VHTRs) are highly ranked among candidates of Generation IV of nuclear reactors due to their high efficiency, safety, the resistance to proliferation, and reliability. The VHTRs are preferentially fuelled by Tristructural-isometric (TRISO) coated fuel particles which has fuel kernels of fissile material coated by four coating layers: a porous buffer pyrolysis carbon layer (buffer PyC), an inner dense pyrolysis carbon layer (IPyC), a silicon carbide layer (SiC) and an outer dense pyrolysis carbon layer (OPyC). The heart of the operation and safety of the VHTRs significantly depends on the reliability of the coating layers of TRISO particles to retain metallic and gaseous fission products within the particles. The technique used for coating TRISO particles are gas-solids spouted beds via chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Fabrication of high-quality low-defect TRISO fuel particles fuel at larger scale spouted beds is required to support the commercialization of the VHTRs. In this work, our new developed mechanistic scale-up methodology of gas-solids spouted beds based on matching the radial profile of gas-holdup has been demonstrated and validated using radioactive particle tracking (RPT). Two spouted beds of small and larger scales were used in the study. Three sets of conditions were carried out which include the conditions of the reference case in the large scale, conditions that provide similar gas holdup radial profile to that of the reference case and conditions that provided dissimilar gas holdup radial in the small-scale spouted beds. The results confirm the validation of the scale-up methodology in terms of the dimensionless values of the spout diameter, cumulative probability distribution of the solids particles penetration into the spout, fraction of cycle time in each region of the bed, the radial profiles of the dimensionless values of the root-mean-square particle velocities and solids eddy diffusivity. The results further advance the knowledge and understanding of the gas-solids spouted beds provide deeper insight into their solids dynamics and presenting important benchmarking data for validating computational fluid dynamics codes and models. At last, procedures are established for the implementation of the new scale-up methodology.

Inventory model for deteriorating items and time value of money for a finite time horizon under the permissible delay in payments

In this article, an inventory model is derived by assuming constant rate of deterioration of units in an inventory, time value of money under the conditions of permissible delay in payments. The optimal replenishments and fraction of cycle time are decision variables to minimize the present value of inventory cost over a finite planning horizon. The sensitivity analysis is carried out by a numerical example.

Mechanochemical aspects of axonemal dynein activity studied by in vitro microtubule translocation

We have determined the relationship between microtubule length and translocation velocity from recordings of bovine brain microtubules translocating over a Paramecium 22S dynein substratum in an in vitro assay chamber. For comparison with untreated samples, the 22S dynein has been subjected to detergent and/or to pretreatments that induce phosphorylation of an associated 29 kDa light chain. Control and treated dyneins have been used at the same densities in the translocation assays. In any given condition, translocation velocity (v) shows an initial increase with microtubule length (L) and then reaches a plateau. This situation may be represented by a hyperbola of the general form v = aL/(L+b), which is formally analogous to the Briggs-Haldane relationship, which we have used to interpret our data. The results indicate that the maximum translocation velocity Vo(= a) is increased by pretreatment, whereas the length constant KL(= b), which corresponds to Km, does not change with pretreatment, implying that the mechanochemical properties of the pretreated dyneins differ from those of control dyneins. The conclusion that KL is constant for defined in vitro assays rules out the possibility that the velocity changes seen are caused by changes in geometry in the translocation assays or by the numbers of dyneins or dynein heads needed to produce maximal translocational velocity. From our analysis, we determine that f, the fraction of cycle time during which the dynein is in the force-generating state, is small--roughly 0.01, comparable to the f determined previously for heavy meromyosin. The practical limits of these mechanochemical changes imply that the maximum possible ciliary beat frequency is about 120 Hz, and that in the physiological range of 5-60 Hz, beat frequency could be controlled by varying the numbers of phosphorylated outer arm dyneins along an axonemal microtubule.

An Interpretation of Axial Creep-Fatigue Damage Interaction in Type 316 Stainless Steel (Survey Paper)

Creep-fatigue interaction and its effect on damage of components in service have been a major concern to analysts. To deal with this problem, several criteria have been proposed and used, such as: cycle-time fraction summation rule, strain limit, fracture maps where damage mechanisms are based on crack initiation or propagation, and ductility exhaustion. These concepts are reviewed in this paper so that one can interpret the damage mechanisms caused by creep and by fatigue. If a long period of dwell-time at elevated temperature is imposed on a component under strain conditions, stress relaxation occurs. Relaxation data can be used, for example, in austenitic steels, in predicting creep stages; however, interpretation of data obtained from such tests could be misleading in assessing damage. An example is given for life prediction on the basis of two selected criteria: the fraction rule and ductility exhaustion.