ALBERT

Description: Alteration processes on asteroid and comet surfaces, such as thermal fracturing, (micrometeorite) impacts or volatile outgassing, are complex mechanisms that form diverse surface morphologies and roughness on various scales. These mechanisms and their interaction may differ on the surfaces of different bodies. Asteroid Ryugu and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, both, have been visited by landers which imaged the surfaces in high spatial resolution. We investigate the surface morphology and roughness of Ryugu and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko based on high resolution in situ images of 0.2 mm and 0.8 mm pixel resolution over an approximately 25 cm and 80 cm wide scene, respectively. To maintain comparability and reproducibility, we introduce a method to extract surface roughness descriptors (fractal dimension, Hurst exponent, joint roughness coefficient, root mean square slope, hemispherical crater density, small scale roughness parameter and Hapke mean slope angle) from in situ planetary images illuminated by LEDs. We validate our method and choose adequate parameters for an analysis of the roughness of the surfaces. We also derive the roughness descriptors from 3-dimensional shape models of Ryugu and orbiter camera images and show that the higher spatially resolved images results in a higher roughness. We find that 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is up to 6% rougher than Ryugu depending on the descriptor used and attribute this difference to the different intrinsic properties of the materials imaged and the erosive processes altering them. On 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sublimation appears to be the main cause for roughness, while on Ryugu micrometeoroid bombardment as well as thermal fatigue and solar weathering may play a significant role in shaping the surface.

Description: Biaxial stress relaxation studies were performed on glassy polymethylmethacrylate in combined torsion-tension strain fields using a specially designed apparatus with exceptionally high stiffness and low cross talk between the torsional and tensile load measuring transducers. It was found that at low strain levels uniaxial tension relaxation is slower than pure torsion relaxation; tensile-component relaxation rates are unaffected by the level of torsional strain; torsional-component relaxation rates decrease as tensile strain is increased; uniaxial tension relaxation rates approach the pure torsion rates at higher strains (about 2%). A phenomenological treatment is presented which shows that relaxation rates can be coupled to the strain fields in which they are observed and yet be consistent with the concepts of linear viscoelasticity and the Boltzmann superposition integral.

Description: An exploratory study of the properties of aircraft brake materials was made to determine ways of improving friction and wear behavior while minimizing surface temperatures. It is found that frictional variation at high temperature involves material softening and metal transfer, formation of oxides, and surface melting. The choice of proper materials to combat these effects is discussed. Minimum surface temperatures are found to result from use of materials with large density-specific heat and density-specific heat-conductivity factors, use of a higher load-lower friction system, and maximization of the contact area. Some useful trade-off criteria for the size of brake disks against weight considerations are suggested. Additional information on material behavior and peak braking temperatures was gathered from an inspection of used brake pads and rotor disks.

Description: The requirements of brake materials were outlined and a survey made to select materials to meet the needs of high temperature brakes. A number of metals and ceramic materials were selected and evaluated in sliding tests which simulated aircraft braking. Nickel, molybdenum tungsten, Zr02, high temperature cements and carbons were tested. Additives were then incorporated into these materials to optimize their wear or strength behavior with particular emphasis on nickel and molybdenum base materials and a high temperature potassium silicate cement. Optimum materials were developed which improved wear behavior over conventional brake materials in the simulated test. The best materials are a nickel, aluminum oxide, lead tungstate composition containing graphite or molybdenum disulphite; a molybdenum base material containing LPA100 (an intermetallic compound of cobalt, molybdenum, and silicon); and a carbon material (P5).

Description: A study has been made of the frictional behavior of several aircraft brake materials using a simple high-temperature Falex-type apparatus. Tests were run at velocities of seven ft/minute; loads to 600 pounds and temperatures to 700 C. The data for these brake materials sliding against a variety of steels and other materials indicate a large reduction in friction due to surface oxidation in the temperature range 250 to 300 C. It also was found that the retention of this oxide was a function of the temperature changes. With increasing temperature the oxide was removed, while with reducing temperature it was retained. Frictional behavior was more characteristic of the steel than the brake material.

Description: An exploratory investigation was conducted concerning materials and their properties for use in aircraft brakes. Primary consideration was given to the heat dissipation and the frictional behavior of materials. Used brake pads and rotors were analyzed as part of the investigation. A simple analysis was conducted in order to determine the most significant factors which affect surface temperatures. It was found that where size and weight restrictions are necessary, the specific heat of the material, and maintaining uniform contact area are the most important factors. A criterion was suggested for optimum sizing of the brake disks. Bench friction tests were run with brake materials. It was found that there is considerable friction variation due to the formation and removal of surface oxide films. Other causes of friction variations are surface softening and melting. The friction behavior at high temperature was found to be more characteristic of the steel surface rather than the copper brake material. It is concluded that improved brake materials are feasible.

Description: Summary Global variations in the propagation of fundamental-mode and overtone surface waves provide unique constraints on the low-frequency source properties and structure of the Earth’s upper mantle, transition zone and mid mantle. We construct a reference dataset of multi-mode dispersion measurements by reconciling large and diverse catalogs of Love-wave (49.65 million) and Rayleigh-wave dispersion (177.66 million) from 8 groups worldwide. The reference dataset summarizes measurements of dispersion of fundamental-mode surface waves and up to six overtone branches from 44871 earthquakes recorded on 12222 globally distributed seismographic stations. Dispersion curves are specified at a set of reference periods between 25 and 250 s to determine propagation-phase anomalies with respect to a reference Earth model. Our procedures for reconciling datasets include: (1) controlling quality and salvaging missing metadata; (2) identifying discrepant measurements and reasons for discrepancies; (3) equalizing geographic coverage by constructing summary rays for travel-time observations; and (4) constructing phase velocity maps at various wavelengths with combination of data types to evaluate inter-dataset consistency. We retrieved missing station and earthquake metadata in several legacy compilations and codified scalable formats to facilitate reproducibility, easy storage and fast input/output on high-performance-computing systems. Outliers can be attributed to cycle skipping, station polarity issues or overtone interference at specific epicentral distances. By assessing inter-dataset consistency across similar paths, we empirically quantified uncertainties in travel-time measurements. More than 95 per cent measurements of fundamental-mode dispersion are internally consistent, but agreement deteriorates for overtones especially branches 5 and 6. Systematic discrepancies between raw phase anomalies from various techniques can be attributed to discrepant theoretical approximations, reference Earth models and processing schemes. Phase-velocity variations yielded by the inversion of the summary dataset are highly correlated (R ≥ 0.8) with those from the quality-controlled contributing datasets. Long-wavelength variations in fundamental-mode dispersion (50–100 s) are largely independent of the measurement technique with high correlations extending up to degree ∼ 25. Agreement degrades with increasing branch number and period; highly correlated structure is found only up to degree ∼ 10 at longer periods (T 〉 150 s) and up to degree ∼ 8 for overtones. Only 2ζ azimuthal variations in phase velocity of fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves were required by the reference dataset; maps of 2ζ azimuthal variations are highly consistent between catalogs (R = 0.6–0.8). Reference data with uncertainties are useful for improving existing measurement techniques, validating models of interior structure, calculating teleseismic data corrections in local or multi-scale investigations, and developing a 3D reference Earth model.