Abstract: A method and apparatus for deburring or radiusing articles made of TZM alloys by electrochemical machining uses a pulsating current and a binary salt electrolyte solution simultaneously applied across a gap between a tool electrode and a TZM workpiece. The pulse duration is typically in the range between about 0.5 milliseconds to about 100 milliseconds and the pulse interval is between 5 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds. The pulse voltage amplitude is typically in the range between about 8 volts to about 30 volts. The binary salt electrolyte solution is an aqueous salt solution with a total concentration typically in the range between about 14% to about 20% by weight of sodium chloride and sodium nitrate. The ratio of sodium chloride to sodium nitrate is typically in the range of between about 1:1 to about 1.5:1. The standoff distance, or gap, between the tool electrode and the TZM workpiece is typically in the range between 0.015 mm to about 3.0 mm.

Abstract: An MRI system produces a series of image frames of a blood vessel using a cardiac gated, M-mode Fourier-velocity-encoding pulse sequence. The pulse-wave velocity of a velocity wave traversing the field of view of the image frames is determined by cross correlating a selected reference image frame with the other image frames to locate the relative position of the velocity wave in each of those other image frames, and calculating the propagation velocity of the velocity wave from its relative positions in those other image frames.

Abstract: A steam turbine blade, such as those used in an electric power generation steam turbine, has an airfoil portion. The airfoil portion includes a metallic section consisting essentially of metal and at least one (lightweight) panel section not consisting essentially of metal. The metallic section extends from generally the blade root to generally the blade tip. Each panel section is an elastomeric section. The metallic section and the at-least-one panel section only together define a generally airfoil shape.

Abstract: A generator for producing electricity at high efficiency from mechanical energy includes a housing, a shaft mounted in the housing, an electrical coil positioned about the shaft and an annular, anisotropic magnet positioned about the shaft adjacent the coil. The magnet has a plurality of circumferentially distributed, alternating magnetic poles. Ferromagnetic flux plates are operatively associated with the magnet and the coil for establishing an alternating magnetic field through the coil as a function of rotation of at least one of the magnets, the coil and the flux plates.

Abstract: A seal assembly and a rotary machine, such as a steam turbine, containing such seal. A stator circumferentially surrounds a row of rotor blades. The stator includes an upstream tooth-seal region, a downstream brush-seal region, and an intervening fluid expansion chamber all radially near the blade tips. Debris in the fluid stream is broken down into smaller particles by the tooth-seal region, and the smaller particles are slowed down by the fluid expansion chamber such that minimal damage is caused to the downstream bristles in the brush seal region.

Abstract: Apparatus which is selectively operable at low frequencies (less than 5,000 Hz and preferably between about 100 Hz to about 1,000 Hz) breaks up jets of high-viscosity fluid into monodisperse droplets. The apparatus includes a housing having a chamber, a piston disposed in the chamber, a magnetic-coil system operably attached to the housing and to the piston, and an oscillator for driving the magnetic-coil system. The housing and the piston define a reservoir for receiving a supply of high-viscosity fluid which is acted upon by oscillating motion of the piston to impart pressure perturbations on the supply of fluid so that the fluid upon discharge from the reservoir separates and breaks up into a plurality of monodisperse droplets. Also disclosed is a method for optimizing the performance of the apparatus to minimize the power required for droplet formation.

Abstract: An optical alignment fixture includes a carriage pivotally joined to a frame for supporting an optical element. A worm wheel is joined to the carriage, and a driveshaft is mounted to the frame. A worm at one end of the driveshaft is engaged with the worm wheel for rotating the worm wheel and the carriage upon rotation of the driveshaft.

Abstract: A coherent imaging system having a phased array of transmit elements provides for transmit apodization (or weighting) by controlling pulse width of the transmit pulses on every channel. Conventional transmit apodization requires a channel-by-channel voltage (or current) control which, because of its complexity, is expensive to implement. Pulse width weighting applies the same peak voltage/current but controls pulse power by changing the duty cycle of the pulse.

Abstract: A turbine rotor blade comprises a shank portion, a tip portion and an airfoil. The airfoil has a pressure side wall and a suction side wall that are interconnected by a plurality of partition sidewalls, defining an internal cooling passageway within the airfoil. The internal cooling passageway includes at least one radial outflow passageway to direct a cooling medium flow from the shank portion towards the tip portion and at least one radial inflow passageway to direct a cooling medium flow from the tip portion towards the shank portion. A number of mixing ribs are disposed on the partition sidewalls within the radial outflow passageways so as to enhance the thermal mixing of the cooling medium flow, thereby producing improved heat transfer over a broad range of the Buoyancy number.

Abstract: A polycrystalline carbon body is converted to a different crystallography by directing an infrared laser beam at a crystal boundary interface. By using a beam having a 5.3 micron wavelength so as to fall within a 5-9 micron range of normal spectral transmittance of the carbon, the interface is heated for solid state conversion by passing the beam through a forward portion of the body without appreciably heating the forward portion. During heating, the interface propagates through the body, thus converting an ever-decreasing aft portion of the body to the different crystallography.

Abstract: An X-ray tube assembly having bearings rotatably connecting a rotor shaft and a stator. A pair of circumferential protrusions each radially extend from the shaft and are spaced apart a first radial distance from the stator. In a first example, the protrusions are longitudinally outward of, and to one longitudinal side of, the pair of bearings, and one of the protrusions is longitudinally and radially proximate one of the bearings. In a second example, a line may be drawn which is parallel to the axis and which intersects each of the protrusions and each of the bearings. A substance, which includes metal (such as gallium) and which is liquid at the assembly's operating temperature, is located longitudinally between the circumferential protrusions. The substance radially extends a second radial distance between, and in conductive thermal contact with, the shaft and the stator.

Abstract: A fixture to evaluate stator production quality is placed about a stator core so as to introduce a test winding about the stator without need for hand winding. The fixture includes an inner annulus and an outer annulus each with axial conductors thereon, and top and bottom plates each with conductors thereon. The core is fitted between the inner and outer annuli, and between the top and bottom plates. The inner axial conductors and outer axial conductors are connected to one another at their lower ends through the bottom plate conductors and at their upper ends through the top plate conductors. Once testing is complete, the fixture is easily removed.

Abstract: A direct sequence spread spectrum receiver samples an incoming signal and translates the signal to an IF signal. The IF signal is sampled and stored in memory. In one embodiment, the memory consists of two memory banks which alternately receive sample segments. During a write period to one of the memory banks, the other memory bank supplies its output to a processor. This continues in a ping-pong manner. In another embodiment, a single memory bank is filled and read as necessary, the receiver ignoring incoming signal until the processor has completed processing the sample available at the output of the memory. Such a receiver is useful in global positioning satellite (GPS) signal processing where the incoming signal contains several satellite transmissions encoded with CDMA encoding.

Abstract: A communications unit configured to be implemented in an ASIC environment utilizes only a small amount of chip surface area and requires a minimum number of pins. The unit operates asynchronously with respect to the ASIC internal clock so that communications can occur independent of such internal clock. In one embodiment the communications unit includes a controller coupled to a shift register via a data bus. Pin connections to the controller include a request line REQ, an input/output control line I/O (or INOUT), an acknowledgement line ACK, an external clock line EXTCLK, and a data line DATA. The shift register also is coupled, via a data bus, to a memory module, e.g., a RAM. An ASIC processor is coupled to the controller, shift register and memory module via control lines.

Abstract: Secondary data set information is incorporated into a primary data set (such as a digital image) retaining a desired dynamic range and retaining the original primary set data quality. The secondary data set information is `smuggled` into the least significant bits of the primary data set to result in an enhanced data set. If desired, the primary data word can be shifted toward the most significant bit. The enhanced data set may be viewed as if it were the original primary data set with existing playback devices, however it now includes additional `smuggled` information which may be played back in coordination with the primary data set information. One example is flow-direction information `smuggled` into an angiographic image. The least significant bits of the enhanced data words may be used to select the color map and color code the images. A user-adjustable intensity threshold can also be employed to select between color maps.

Abstract: Signal-to-noise ratio in medical ultrasound imaging is improved by using Golay-encoded excitation of a transducer array. Two orthogonal Golay pairs of sequences are transmitted to respective transmit focal zones. Start of transmission of the Golay pair to the second zone is delayed until shortly after the start of transmission of the Golay pair to the first transmit focal zone such that the two pairs of firings are overlapped in time. The receive filtering follows two parallel paths, one for each focal zone. Each decoding filter (also used for bandpass filtering) supplies its output signal to a vector summer, the output signal of which is multiplexed to conventional B-mode processing (envelope detection, logarithmic compression and edge-enhancement filter), followed by scan conversion for display.

Abstract: A system for displaying surfaces of volumetric data determines surface cubes by a simple method without interpolation. A central voxel is selected. The central voxel is tested against a threshold. If it is below the threshold, a different voxel is chosen as a central voxel. When one is found which is above the threshold, diagonal cubes, those at each of the corners of the central voxel, are tested against the threshold. When one is encountered with at least one voxel below the threshold, it is categorized as a surface voxel. The values of the adjacent voxels are then used to determine a vector normal to the surface at the central voxel. This is repeated for a number of central voxels to determine a surface. The surface then may be displayed. If anisotropic voxels are used, the elevation angle is converted to an effective elevation angle. The normal vectors to the surface are also adjusted to compensate for the anisotropic nature of the data.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for electrochemically deburring a diesel injector nozzle workpiece having a gallery cavity and having a first fuel hole and an air hole intersecting the gallery cavity at a first location. A first electrode is inserted into the first fuel hole such that the electrode tip is near the first location. A post is inserted in the air hole into the gallery cavity. An electrolyte flow is directed through a first channel of the post to the gallery cavity and through a second channel of the post from the gallery cavity. A voltage potential is applied between the first electrode and the workpiece to remove burrs previously formed at the first location.

Abstract: A brush seal segment useful, when circumferentially arrayed with other such segments, to seal the gap between a rotor and a surrounding casing of a rotary machine such as a steam turbine. An annular backing plate has a rim radially-inwardly bounding together upstream-facing and downstream-facing surfaces. Canted bristles abut the upstream-facing surface. The rim is designed to allow the bristles to recover from a rotor rub. In one design, the rim acts as a labyrinth-seal tooth and is shaped to deform, under a radial force, longitudinally away from the upstream-facing surface. In another design, the rim has a more-inwardly projecting second portion near a radially-aligned edge, and only this second portion acts as a labyrinth-seal tooth.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for calculating the inter-slice spacing in a data volume and registering the slices of that volume using SAD calculations. The resulting transformed data volume is then three-dimensionally reconstructed using a projection technique. If during scanning the probe is translated in the Z direction and at the same time is shifted in the X and/or Y direction, the SAD value will be artificially high. By translating two adjacent images with respect to each other in the X direction and then in the Y direction, and searching for the minimum SAD value, the amount of shift in the X and/or Y direction can be determined and that shift can then be removed. Also by rotating two slices with respect to each other and looking for a minimum SAD value, rotational motion of the probe during scanning can be removed.