The roughness of tribological surfaces can have a huge influence on the friction behaviour of lubricated contacts. On this account the impact of surface flattening on the friction coefficient is ...investigated in this work. In terms of energy saving and sustainability, a lower friction coefficient and a shorter run in phase causes mostly decreasing wear and leads to a stable running behaviour of frictional systems. Hence, different journal bearing materials with a different strength are investigated focusing on surface flattening. The whole numerical investigation is modelled with the finite elements software Abaqus (Dassault Simulia) and is taking place at the microscopic level. All investigations are based on the mixed lubrication model from Lorentz 1 (2013).
•Impact of material properties on the friction behaviour could be shown.•The influence of a constitutive model, (in this case by Johnson–Cook) regarding hardening effects in the surface layer, is investigated.•The FE-model enables the detection of solid–solid contacts on real surface profiles.
Based on the notion that the local dark-matter field of axions or axionlike particles (ALPs) in our Galaxy induces oscillating couplings to the spins of nucleons and nuclei (via the electric dipole ...moment of the latter and/or the paramagnetic axion-wind effect), we establish the feasibility of a new method to search for ALPs in storage rings. Based on previous work that allows us to maintain the in-plane polarization of a stored deuteron beam for a few hundred seconds, we perform a first proof-of-principle experiment at the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) to scan momenta near 970 MeV/c. This entails a scan of the spin-precession frequency. At resonance between the spin-precession frequency of deuterons and the ALP-induced electric dipole moment (EDM) oscillation frequency, there is an accumulation of the polarization component out of the ring plane. Since the axion frequency is unknown, the momentum of the beam and, consequently, the spin-precession frequency are ramped to search for a vertical polarization change that occurs when the resonance is crossed. At COSY, four beam bunches with different polarization directions are used to make sure that no resonance is missed because of the unknown relative phase between the polarization precession and the axion or ALP field. A frequency window of 1.5 kHz width around the spin-precession frequency of 121 kHz is scanned. We describe the experimental procedure and a test of the methodology with the help of a radio-frequency Wien filter located on the COSY ring. No ALP resonance is observed. As a consequence, an upper limit of the oscillating EDM component of the deuteron as well as its axion coupling constants are provided.
A diversity of vaccines is necessary to reduce the mortality and morbidity of SARS-CoV-2. Vaccines must be efficacious, easy to manufacture, and stable within the existing cold chain to improve their ...availability around the world. Recombinant protein subunit vaccines adjuvanted with squalene-based emulsions such as AS03™ and MF59™ have a long and robust history of safe, efficacious use with straightforward production and distribution. Here, subunit vaccines were made with squalene-based emulsions containing novel, synthetic toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, INI-2002 (TLR4 agonist) and INI-4001 (TLR7/8 agonist), using the recombinant receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 S protein as an antigen. The addition of the TLR4 and TLR7/8 agonists, alone or in combination, maintained the formulation characteristics of squalene-based emulsions, including a sterile filterable droplet size (<220 nm), high homogeneity, and colloidal stability after months of storage at 4, 25, and 40 °C. Furthermore, the addition of the TLR agonists skewed the immune response from Th2 towards Th1 in immunized C57BL/6 mice, resulting in an increased production of IgG2c antibodies and a lower antigen-specific production of IL-5 with a higher production of IFNγ by lymphocytes. As such, incorporating TLR4 and TLR7/8 agonists into emulsions leveraged the desirable formulation and stability characteristics of emulsions and can induce Th1-type humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to combat the continued threat of SARS-CoV-2.
The proton–proton elastic differential cross section at very small four momentum transfer squared has been measured at three different incident proton momenta in the range of 2.5 to 3.2 GeV/c by ...detecting the recoil proton at polar angles close to 90∘. The measurement was performed at COSY with the KOALA detector covering the Coulomb–nuclear interference region. The total cross section σtot, which has been determined precisely, is consistent with previous measurements. The values of the slope parameter B and the relative real amplitude ratio ρ determined in this experiment alleviate the lack of data in the relevant energy region. These precise data on ρ might be an important check for a new dispersion analysis.
Neutron-induced reaction cross sections of unstable nuclei are essential for understanding the synthesis of heavy elements in stars and for applications in nuclear technology. However, their ...measurement is very complicated due to the radioactivity of the targets involved. We propose to circumvent this problem by using the surrogate reaction method in inverse kinematics, where the nucleus formed in the neutron- induced reaction of interest is produced by a reaction involving a radioactive heavy-ion beam and a stable, light target nucleus. The probabilities as a function of the compound-nucleus excitation energy for
γ
-ray emission, neutron emission and fission, which can be measured with the surrogate reaction, are particularly useful to constrain model parameters and to obtain more accurate predictions of the neutron-induced reaction cross sections of interest. Yet, the full development of the surrogate method is hampered by numerous long- standing target issues, which can be solved by combining surrogate reactions with the unique and largely unexplored possibilities at heavy-ion storage rings. In this contribution, we describe the developments we are carrying out to measure for the first time simultaneously
γ
-ray emission, neutron emission and fission probabilities at the storage rings of the GSI/FAIR facility. In particular, we will present the first results of the proof of principle experiment, which we performed in June 2022 at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR.
We report on the experimental search for the bound state of an η meson and He3 nucleus performed using the WASA-at-COSY detector setup. In order to search for the η-mesic nucleus decay, the pd→3He2γ ...and pd→3He6γ channels have been analysed. These reactions manifest the direct decay of the η meson bound in a He3 nucleus. This non-mesonic decay channel has been considered for the first time. When taking into account only statistical errors, the obtained excitation functions reveal a slight indication for a possible bound state signal corresponding to a 3He-η nucleus width Γ above 20 MeV and binding energy Bs between 0 and 15 MeV. However, the determined cross sections are consistent with zero in the range of the systematic uncertainty. Therefore, as final result we estimate only the upper limit for the cross section of the η-mesic He3 nucleus formation followed by the η meson decay which varies between 2 nb and 15 nb depending on possible bound state parameters.
New precise unpolarised differential cross sections of deuteron–proton elastic scattering have been measured at 16 different deuteron beam momenta between pd=3120.17MeV/c and pd=3204.16MeV/c at the ...COoler SYnchrotron COSY of the Forschungszentrum Jülich. The data, which were taken using the magnetic spectrometer ANKE, cover the equivalent range in proton kinetic energies from Tp=882.2MeV to Tp=918.3MeV. The experimental results are analysed theoretically using the Glauber diffraction model with accurate nucleon–nucleon input. The theoretical cross section at Tp=900MeV agrees very well with the experimental one at low momentum transfers t. There are, however, significant deviations for |t|>0.2(GeV/c)2 that must be investigated further.
Abstract
Determining the cross sections of neutron-induced reactions on short-lived nuclei is imperative to rate calculations in stellar nucleosynthesis and applications of nuclear physics. It is ...also an immense experimental challenge due to the radioactivity of the targets involved. Our goal is to circumvent this obstacle by using surrogate reactions in inverse kinematics at the heavy-ion storage rings of GSI/FAIR. We present here preliminary results from the first proof of principle experiment, where a beam of
208
Pb impinged on a H
2
gas jet target in the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR).