Harsh Electromagnetic Environment Research Articles

Reconfiguration of flight control systems for actuator failures

We consider the problem of designing fault tolerant control for transient failures in the flight control system caused by harsh electromagnetic environments. We examine principles of fault tolerant design and discuss integrated local supervisory control of these systems. As an example, we present a sample design of a control mixer to achieve fault tolerance in the event of failures in the actuators.

Measurement of Arc‐root velocity of magnetically driven Arcs in switchgear

AbstractThe arc‐root velocity is an important parameter in switchgear devices using magnetically driven arcs for current interruption. Optical measurements of the arc movement may be difficult to accomplish without changing the switchgear device. A simple electrical method for determination of the arc‐root velocity is described in this paper. The arc‐root velocity is represented by the frequency of an electrical signal which makes the measurement highly unaffectable by the harsh electromagnetic environment usually found in switchgear subjected to power tests. The arc‐root velocity can be measured close to the current‐zero passage which is decisive for successful current interruption.

A source of cold molecular ions for Coulomb explosion imaging

A specialized ion source for use in the high voltage terminal of an electrostatic accelerator has been developed to produce vibrationally cold beams of molecular ions. A pulsed valve is used to produce a supersonic expansion of the source gas which is ionized by electron impact near the beginning of the free expansion. Because of the harsh electromagnetic environment in the terminal, special care has been taken to protect the electronic components related to the ion source. The effect of vibrational cooling in the supersonic expansion is demonstrated using Coulomb explosion techniques with a He2+ beam.