Imbalance Response Research Articles

The OSU1/QUA2/TSD2-encoded putative methyltransferase is a critical modulator of carbon and nitrogen nutrient balance response in Arabidopsis.

The balance between carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) nutrients must be tightly coordinated so that cells can optimize their opportunity for metabolism, growth and development. However, the C and N nutrient balance perception and signaling mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of two allelic oversensitive to sugar1 mutants (osu1-1, osu1-2) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using the cotyledon anthocyanin accumulation and root growth inhibition assays, we show that the osu1 mutants are more sensitive than wild-type to both of the imbalanced C/N conditions, high C/low N and low C/high N. However, under the balanced C/N conditions (low C/low N or high C/high N), the osu1 mutants have similar anthocyanin levels and root lengths as wild-type. Consistently, the genes encoding two MYB transcription factors (MYB75 and MYB90) and an Asn synthetase isoform (ASN1) are strongly up-regulated by the OSU1 mutation in response to high C/low N and low C/high N, respectively. Furthermore, the enhanced sensitivity of osu1-1 to high C/low N with respect to anthocyanin accumulation but not root growth inhibition can be suppressed by co-suppression of MYB75, indicating that MYB75 acts downstream of OSU1 in the high C/low N imbalance response. Map-based cloning reveals that OSU1 encodes a member of a large family of putative methyltransferases and is allelic to the recently reported QUA2/TSD2 locus identified in genetic screens for cell-adhesion-defective mutants. Accumulation of OSU1/QUA2/TSD2 transcript was not regulated by C and N balance, but the OSU1 promoter was slightly more active in the vascular system. Taken together, our results show that the OSU1/QUA2/TSD2-encoded putative methyltransferase is required for normal C/N nutrient balance response in plants.

Rotordynamic Performance of a Rotor Supported on Bump Type Foil Gas Bearings: Experiments and Predictions

Gas foil bearings (GFBs) satisfy the requirements for oil-free turbomachinery, i.e., simple construction and ensuring low drag friction and reliable high speed operation. However, GFBs have a limited load capacity and minimal damping, as well as frequency and amplitude dependent stiffness and damping characteristics. This paper provides experimental results of the rotordynamic performance of a small rotor supported on two bump-type GFBs of length and diameter equal to 38.10mm. Coast down rotor responses from 25krpm to rest are recorded for various imbalance conditions and increasing air feed pressures. The peak amplitudes of rotor synchronous motion at the system critical speed are not proportional to the imbalance introduced. Furthermore, for the largest imbalance, the test system shows subsynchronous motions from 20.5krpm to 15krpm with a whirl frequency at ∼50% of shaft speed. Rotor imbalance exacerbates the severity of subsynchronous motions, thus denoting a forced nonlinearity in the GFBs. The rotor dynamic analysis with calculated GFB force coefficients predicts a critical speed at 8.5krpm, as in the experiments; and importantly enough, unstable operation in the same speed range as the test results for the largest imbalance. Predicted imbalance responses do not agree with the rotor measurements while crossing the critical speed, except for the lowest imbalance case. Gas pressurization through the bearings’ side ameliorates rotor subsynchronous motions and reduces the peak amplitudes at the critical speed. Posttest inspection reveal wear spots on the top foils and rotor surface.

Response of arsenic-induced oxidative stress, DNA damage, and metal imbalance to combined administration of DMSA and monoisoamyl-DMSA during chronic arsenic poisoning in rats

Arsenic and its compounds cause adverse health effects in humans. Current treatment employs administration of thiol chelators, such as meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) and sodium 2,3-dimercaptopropane 1-sulfonate (DMPS), which facilitate its excretion from the body. However, these chelating agents are compromised by number of limitations due to their lipophobic nature, particularly in case of chronic poisoning. Combination therapy is a new approach to ensure enhanced removal of metal from the body, reduced doses of potentially toxic chelators, and no redistribution of metal from one organ to another, following chronic metal exposure. The present study attempts to investigate dose-related effects of two thiol chelators, DMSA and one of its new analogues, monoisoamyl dimercaptosuccinic acid (MiADMSA), when administered in combination with the aim of achieving normalization of altered biochemical parameters suggestive of oxidative stress and depletion of inorganic arsenic following chronic arsenic exposure. Twenty-five adult male Wistar rats were given 25 ppm arsenic for 10 weeks followed by chelation therapy with the above chelating agents at a dose of 0.3 mmol/kg (orally) when administered individually or 0.15 mmol/kg and 0.3 mmol/kg (once daily for 5 consecutive days), respectively, when administered in combination. Arsenic exposure led to the inhibition of blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity and depletion of glutathione (GSH) level. These changes were accompanied by significant depletion of hemoglobin, RBC and Hct as well as blood superoxide dismutase (SOD) acitivity. There was an increase in hepatic and renal levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, while GSH:GSSG ratio decreased significantly, accompanied by a significant increase in metallothionein (MT) in hepatocytes. DNA damage based on denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed significant loss in the integrity of DNA extracted from the liver of arsenic-exposed rats compared to that of normal animals. These changes were accompanied by a significant elevation in blood and soft-tissue arsenic concentration. Co-administration of DMSA and MiADMSA at lower dose (0.15 mmol/kg) was most effective not only in reducing arsenic-induced oxidative stress but also in depleting arsenic from blood and soft tissues compared to other treatments. This combination was also able to repair DNA damage caused following arsenic exposure. We thus recommend combined administration of DMSA and MiADMSA for achieving optimum effects of chelation therapy.

Influence of rotor’s radial rub-impact on imbalance responses

Abstract The response of rotor’s mass imbalance is synchronous vibration proportional to mass, mass eccentricity, and the square of rotating speed. But in the presence of rotor’s radial rub-impact, it does not keep this property. It is observed from numerical simulations of rotor’s radial rub-impact that the magnitude of imbalance response in power spectrum is affected by rotor’s radial rub-impact. In the absence of radial rub-impact, the magnitudes of both lateral and torsional responses maintain constant. But in the presence of radial rub-impact, the magnitude of lateral response goes down all the way to a bottom while that of torsional response goes up all the way to a roof, as radial rub-impact grows strong. These properties can be used for the diagnostics of rotor’s radial rub-impacts.

An experimental study of high-speed rotor supported by air bearings: test RIG and first experimental results

The paper contains the description of the test rig and first experimental data regarding the mechanical and the thermal behaviour of a 7 kg rotor, 460 mm long and with a diameter of 50 mm, supported by externally-pressurized air-lubricated bearings. The rig allows to load the rotor radially and axially both in static and dynamic conditions and to measure the orbits on the supports. The rotating imbalance response at different speeds has been measured up to 60,000 rpm. The orbits are always synchronous with the rotational speed and their shape changes also with temperature (though this effect is almost negligible). The rotor is stable and does not present whirl instability.

Transitions to chaos in squeeze-film dampers

This work reports on a numerical study undertaken to investigate the imbalance response of a rigid rotor supported by squeeze-film dampers. Two types of damper configurations were considered, namely, dampers without centering springs, and eccentrically operated dampers with centering springs. For a rotor fitted with squeeze-film dampers without centering springs, the study revealed the existence of three regimes of chaotic motion. The route to chaos in the first regime was attributed to a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations of the period-1 (synchronous) rotor response. A period-3 (one-third subharmonic) rotor whirl orbit, which was born from a saddle-node bifurcation, was found to co-exist with the chaotic attractor. The period-3 orbit was also observed to undergo a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations resulting in chaotic vibrations of the rotor. The route to chaos in the third regime of chaotic rotor response, which occurred immediately after the disappearance of the period-3 orbit due to a saddle-node bifurcation, was attributed to a possible boundary crisis. The transitions to chaotic vibrations in the rotor supported by eccentric squeeze-film dampers with centering springs were via the period-doubling cascade and type 3 intermittency routes. The type 3 intermittency transition to chaos was due to an inverse period-doubling bifurcation of the period-2 (one-half subharmonic) rotor response. The unbalance response of the squeeze-film-damper supported rotor presented in this work leads to unique non-synchronous and chaotic vibration signatures. The latter provide some useful insights into the design and development of fault diagnostic tools for rotating machinery that operate in highly nonlinear regimes.

Rotor‐Bearing System Stability Performance Comparing Hybrid versus Conventional Bearings

New closed‐form expressions for calculating the linear stability thresholds for rigid and flexible Jeffcott systems and the imbalance response for a rotor supported on a hybrid bearing are presented. For typical bearings characteristics, expressions yield stability thresholds practically equal to those reported by Lund (1966). The hybrid bearing design has a single injection port whose location is so chosen to stabilize the bearing performance and to reduce the steady equilibrium attitude angle. Rotordynamics coefficients graphs for conventional and pressurized bearings, as functions of bearing equilibrium eccentricity and/or Sommerfeld number, are presented. Using the rotordynamics coefficients into the expressions for the corresponding velocity thresholds and the imbalance response, the system stability and vibration performances are estimated and analyzed. When comparing the Jeffcott flexible shaft supported on two journal bearings of the conventional type with the hybrid type, the results show a clear superiority of the pressurized design as far as stability behavior is concerned. Specifically for cases of flexible shafts with similar characteristics to those used in industry, the analysis shows that this design yields velocity thresholds 25%–40% higher compared to the conventional circular ones. Also this bearing displays nonlinear feeding pressure behavior, and it is capable of reducing the synchronous vibration amplitude in most speed ranges, except around the critical speed; moreover, for certain Jeffcott configurations the amplitude reduction can be substantial.

Dynamic Response of Squeeze Film Dampers Operating With Bubbly Mixtures

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) aid to attenuate vibrations in compressors and turbines while traversing critical speeds. In actual applications, gas ingestion from the environment may lead to the formation of a foamy lubricant that degrades the rotor/bearing system dynamic performance. Impact and imbalance response tests conducted on a rigid rotor supported on SFDs, and aimed to emulate the pervasive effect of air ingestion into the damper film lands, are reported. Two types of squeeze film damper support the test rotor, one is a conventional cylindrical design with a squirrel cage-type elastic support, and the other is a compact four-pad damper with integral wire EDM elastic supports. Both dampers have identical diameter and radial clearance. Controlled (air in oil) mixtures ranging from pure oil to all air conditions are supplied to the SFDs, and measurements of the transient rotor response to calibrated impact loads are conducted. System damping coefficients, identified from acceleration/load transfer functions, decrease steadily as the air content in the mixture increases. However, measurements of the rotor synchronous imbalance response conducted with a lubricant bubbly mixture (50% air volume) show little difference with test results obtained with pure lubricant supplied to the dampers. The experimental results show that air entrainment is process and device-dependent, and that small amounts of lubricant enable the effective action of SFDs when the rotor traverses a critical speed.

Imbalance Response of a Rotor Supported on Flexure Pivot Tilting Pad Journal Bearings in Series With Integral Squeeze Film Dampers

Measurements of the imbalance responses of a massive 45 kg rotor supported on series (flexure pivot) tilting pad bearings and integral squeeze film dampers (SFDs) are presented. The rotor-bearing configuration is of interest in compressor applications where often oil lubricated dampers are introduced in series with fluid film bearings to relocate critical speeds, enhance the overall system damping, and reduce the risks of rotordynamic instabilities due to seals and impellers, for example. Coast-down experiments from 9000 rpm are conducted for increasing levels of rotor imbalance, and equivalent system damping coefficients identified from the peak amplitude of rotor response while traversing cylindrical mode critical speeds. The tests performed with locked (inactive) and active SFDs demonstrate the effectiveness of the flexible damped support in reducing the system critical speed and improving the overall rotor response with reduced transmitted forces to ground. The SFDs allow safe rotor operation with values of imbalance twice as large as the maximum sustained by the rotor supported on tilting pad bearings alone. The experiments reveal a linear relationship between the peak amplitude of vibration at the critical speeds and the imbalance displacement, even for rotor motions larger than 50% of the tilting pad bearing and damper clearances. The tests also show little cross-coupling effects with the shaft centerline moving along a nearly vertical path. The rotor-bearing system remained stable in the entire range of operation and without the appearance of subsynchronous vibration or nonlinear damper jump response.

CALCULATION AND BIFURCATION OF FLUID FILM WITH CAVITATION BASED ON VARIATIONAL INEQUALITY

The variational inequality principle originated from a class of elliptic obstacle problem applied to the prediction of cavitation in the fluid film bearing and squeeze film damper, and the finite element method has been used to discretize the resulting elliptic variational inequality. Based on the Taylor series, the Jacobian matrix of film force with respect to location and velocity of journal and bearing house has been constructed, and it can be obtained from resolving a set of partial differential equations. An iteration algorithm based on the complementary property of the elliptic variational inequality has been also constructed to determine the rupture boundary, namely, free boundary. On the basis of the fixed-interface eigen-mode and quasi-static modes, a method is constructed to condense the system. Furthermore, the Poincaré map is introduced to discretize the continuous flow, and the fixed point in the Poincaré section is the periodic solution and a method for calculating the Floquet multipliers is also constructed by resolving two sets of secondary ordinary differential equations in the form of matrix. The long-term dynamic behaviors and bifurcation of imbalance response of a rotor dynamic system, amounted in finite length fluid film bearings with squeeze film dampers in series, has been investigated based on the computation method mentioned above. In addition to the above, the influence of the truncation of mode series on the accuracy of solution in nonlinear dynamic system has been investigated tentatively by the comparison between mode series truncations, and the result obtained from the condensation method has been compared with the result obtained from the direct integration. All the results show that the method presented in this paper is effective in the prediction of cavitation in the fluid film and the bifurcation analysis of the system with fluid film.

Changes in cellular immunity among workers occupationally exposed to styrene in a plastics lamination plant

Background Styrene is a widely used industrial chemical. Immune and hematological parameters were examined in 29 hand laminators and sprayers exposed to styrene for an average of 14 years and in 19 in-factory unexposed controls. The workers performed hand lamination procedures in a production area with an average area airborne styrene level of 139.5 mg/m3. Mean concentration of styrene in the blood of exposed workers was 945.7 μg/L and the mean styrene in exhaled air was 38.8 μg/L. Methods Parameters of internal and external exposure, immune function assays, immunoglobulins, acute phase reactants and hematology were evaluated in exposed and non-exposed populations. Results Using multifactorial analysis of variance we found a significant decrease in proliferation of lymphocytes stimulated by Concanavalin A but not by pokeweed mitogen (PWM) in workers occupationally exposed to styrene. Proliferative response to PWM was significantly correlated with the levels of styrene in blood. Phagocytic activity of monocytes, levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE and alpha-2-macroglobulin in serum were indistinguishable in the two groups. The population exposed to styrene had increased levels of C4-component of complement. Levels of C3-component of complement were positively correlated with duration of exposure. A significant elevation in the percentage and number of monocytes and a significantly decreased number of lymphocytes were seen in exposed workers. Styrene concentrations in both blood and exhaled air were associated with decreased percentage of large granular lymphocytes. Conclusions These results suggest immune alterations of cell-mediated immune response of T-lymphocytes and imbalance in leucocyte subsets in peripheral blood of workers exposed to styrene. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:576–583, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The Analytical Imbalance Response of Jeffcott Rotor During Acceleration

Since many rotor systems normally operate above their critical speeds, the problem of accelerating the machine through its critical speeds without excessive vibration draws increasing attention. This paper provides an analytical imbalance response of the Jeffcott rotor under constant acceleration. The response consists of three parts: transient vibration due to the initial condition of the rotor, “synchronous” vibration, and suddenly occurring vibration at the damped natural frequency. This solution provides physical insight to the vibration of the rotor during acceleration.

Fault tolerance of magnetic bearings with material path reluctances and fringing factors

An equivalent magnetic circuit of an eight-pole heteropolar magnetic bearing with path reluctances is developed with nondimensional forms of flux, flux density, and magnetic force equations. The results show that fluxes and magnetic forces are considerably reduced for the magnetic circuit with relatively large path reluctances. A Lagrange multiplier optimization method is used to determine current distribution matrices for the magnetic bearing with large path reluctances. A cost function is defined in a manner that represents load capacity in a specific direction. Optimizing this cost function yields distribution matrices calculated for certain combinations of five poles failed out of eight poles. Position stiffnesses and voltage stiffnesses are calculated for the fault-tolerant magnetic bearings. Fault-tolerant control of a horizontal rigid rotor supported on multiple-coil failed magnetic bearings including large path reluctances is simulated to investigate the effect of path reluctances on imbalance response.

Changes in cellular immunity among workers occupationally exposed to styrene in a plastics lamination plant.

Styrene is a widely used industrial chemical. Immune and hematological parameters were examined in 29 hand laminators and sprayers exposed to styrene for an average of 14 years and in 19 in-factory unexposed controls. The workers performed hand lamination procedures in a production area with an average area airborne styrene level of 139.5 mg/m(3). Mean concentration of styrene in the blood of exposed workers was 945.7 microg/L and the mean styrene in exhaled air was 38.8 microg/L. Parameters of internal and external exposure, immune function assays, immunoglobulins, acute phase reactants and hematology were evaluated in exposed and non-exposed populations. Using multifactorial analysis of variance we found a significant decrease in proliferation of lymphocytes stimulated by Concanavalin A but not by pokeweed mitogen (PWM) in workers occupationally exposed to styrene. Proliferative response to PWM was significantly correlated with the levels of styrene in blood. Phagocytic activity of monocytes, levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE and alpha-2-macroglobulin in serum were indistinguishable in the two groups. The population exposed to styrene had increased levels of C4-component of complement. Levels of C3-component of complement were positively correlated with duration of exposure. A significant elevation in the percentage and number of monocytes and a significantly decreased number of lymphocytes were seen in exposed workers. Styrene concentrations in both blood and exhaled air were associated with decreased percentage of large granular lymphocytes. These results suggest immune alterations of cell-mediated immune response of T-lymphocytes and imbalance in leucocyte subsets in peripheral blood of workers exposed to styrene.

Imbalance Response of a Rotor Supported on Open-Ends Integral Squeeze Film Dampers

Rotor vibration attenuation and structural components isolation in jet engines are achieved with squeeze film dampers, many of them supported on long elastic squirrel cages. Integral squeeze film dampers (ISFDs) are comprised of arcuate pads and wire-EDM webs rendering a compact viscoelastic support. An experimental study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of ISFDs in attenuating the imbalance response of a massive test rotor. Measurements of the damper structural stiffness and rotor natural frequencies are detailed. Impact tests on the test rotor supported on its dampers reveal the supporting structure to be very flexible, thus requiring the experimental evaluation of an equivalent stiffness for the damper and supports system. System damping coefficients extracted from impact load excitations vary with the lubricant viscosity and include a significant structural damping from the bearing supports. Rotor coast-down tests demonstrate the ISFDs to damp well the rotor response with peak vibration amplitude proportional (linear) to the imbalance. Viscous damping coefficients estimated from the amplitude response at the critical speeds agree reasonably well with predictions from a full-film, finite element model.

Comparison of Predictions With Test Results for Rotordynamic Coefficients of a Four-Pocket Gas Damper Seal

Experiments and field applications have demonstrated that multiple-pocket gas damper seals effectively eliminate subsynchronous vibration and attenuate imbalance response at the critical speeds in turbomachinery. A one-control volume, turbulent bulk-flow model for the prediction of the seal leakage and rotordynamic force coefficients of centered multiple-pocket damper seals is hereby detailed. Comparisons of numerical predictions with experimental force coefficients for a four-pocket damper seal are presented. The bulk-flow model and experiments indicate the seal direct stiffness and damping force coefficients are insensitive to journal speed while the cross-coupled stiffnesses increase slightly. However, the current model overpredicts the direct damping coefficient and underpredicts the direct stiffness coefficient for increasing test pressure ratios. Computed results show that the force coefficients of multiple-pocket gas damper seals are also functions of the rotor excitation frequency.

Imbalance Response of a Test Rotor Supported on Squeeze Film Dampers

Squeeze film dampers (SFDs) provide vibration attenuation and structural isolation to aircraft gas turbine engines which must be able to tolerate larger imbalances while operating above one or more critical speeds. Rotor-bearing-SFD systems are regarded in theory as highly nonlinear, showing jump phenomena and even chaotic behavior for sufficiently large levels of rotor imbalance. Yet, few experimental results of practical value have verified the analytical predictions. A test rig for measurement of the dynamic forced response of a three-disk rotor (45 kg) supported on two cylindrical SFDs is described. The major objective is to provide a reliable data base to validate and enhance SFD design practice and to allow a direct comparison with analytical models. The open-ends SFD are supported by four-bar centering structures, each with a stiffness of 3.5 MN/m. Measured synchronous responses to 9000 rpm due to various imbalances show the rotor-SFD system to be well damped with amplification factors between 1.6 and 2.1 while traversing cylindrical and conical modes critical speeds. The rotor amplitudes of motion are found to be proportional to the imbalances for the first mode of vibration, and the damping coefficients extracted compare reasonably well to predictions based on the full-film, open-ends SFD. Tight lip (elastomeric) seals contribute greatly to the overall damping of the test rig. Measured dynamic pressures at the squeeze film lands are well above ambient values with no indication of lubricant dynamic cavitation as simple theoretical models dictate. The measurements show absence of nonlinear behavior of the rotor-SFD apparatus for the range of imbalances tested.

DAMPING MEASUREMENTS IN FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE ROTORS

The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of speed of rotation on first mode modal damping in a composite rotor. Using the half power point method, the imbalance response plot is used to get an effective measure of the rotor system damping. Damping values so obtained are compared with the theoretically predicted values and with earlier experimental results on non rotating composite shafts

Error floors of digital FM in simulcast and Rayleigh fading

A digital FM system in the presence of simulcast interference and/or Rayleigh fading exhibits performance floors, where increased signal strength does not reduce the error rate. Results obtained both in the lab, using a radio channel simulator, and in the field show this performance. Observation of signal waveforms indicates that the bit-error rate (BER) floor is a result of FM clicks during deep fades. We present a mathematical model that can be used to calculate the BER floors. The model is based on the calculation of the click shape as a function of amplitude imbalance, frequency offset, and postdetection filter impulse response. The Rayleigh fading is approximated with a two-signal simulcast by substituting the RMS Doppler spread for the simulcast frequency offset. A good match between calculated and measured results is obtained. It is found that the symbol errors caused by simulcast and Rayleigh fading can be treated as independent, and their effect is cumulative.

Chaos in the imbalance response of a flexible rotor supported by oil film bearings with non-linear suspension

The dynamics of flexible rotors associated with fluid film bearings have been studied since the 1950s. Most of the literature has assumed rigid, undamped bearing support with linear elastic restoring force. For a more precise description of fluid film bearing-rotor systems, a non-linearly supported model is proposed in this paper, where a linear damping force and a non-linear elastic restoring force are assumed. Numerical results show that due to non-linear factors, though the dynamic equations of the bearing center and the rotor center are coupled, the trajectory of the rotor center demonstrates steady-state symmetric motion even when the trajectory of the bearing center is in a state of disorder. Poincare maps, bifurcation diagrams, and power spectra are used to analyze the behavior of the bearing center in the horizontal and vertical directions under different operating conditions. The fractal dimension concept is used to determine whether the system is in a state of chaotic motion. Numerical results find that the dimension of the bearing center trajectory is fractal and greater than two in some operating conditions, indicating that the system is in a state of chaotic motion. Chaotic behavior was found in an intermediate speed range, disappearing at higher speeds. It is suggested that this is a characteristic of all fluid film systems. It is suggested that a number of existing life-critical fluid film bearing systems are possibly being operated in this chaotic region and that such systems should be reevaluated in terms of this new observation.