Scattering and absorption by thin metal wires in rectangularwaveguide-FDTD simulation and physical experiments

The high-frequency internal impedance model of a round ohmic conductor is incorporated into the subcell thin-wire formulation of the finite-difference time-domain method to model the microwave properties of metal wires. For magnetic metals, such as steel, an effective conductivity is introduced to account for the increase in ohmic loss due to the high-frequency permeability. Physical experiments with half-wave resonant copper- and steel-wire inclusions, supported by a dielectric slab in a standard S-band rectangular waveguide, support the formulation     

Towards an Understanding the Outcomes of Housing Privatisation in South Africa

Housing privatisation is commonly understood in political economic terms. The proponents of privatisation argue that the provision of ownership enables households to have security of tenure, which in turn leads to increased housing investment, the development of a secondary housing market and a source of income for the local authority by means of land tax. On the other hand, critics of housing privatisation suggest that such processes lead to landlordism and an increased dependence on mortgage finance. This paper uses historical methodology to trace the historical lack of secure tenure for urban black South Africans. The data consists of 395 structured questionnaires conducted in the case study area of Mangaung, the former black township of Bloemfontein. The results suggest that housing privatisation processes in South Africa cannot be viewed only through a political economic lens.     

An assessment of the ability of computational fluid dynamic models to predict reactive gas–solid flows in a fluidized bed

Fine grid, two dimensional simulations of reactive gas–solid flows occurring in a fluidized bed reactor were carried out using the Eulerian multi-fluid kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) approach in the commercial flow solver, ANSYS FLUENT 12.1. The fuel reactor of a pilot scale Chemical Looping Combustion rig, operated in the bubbling fluidization regime at the Vienna University of Technology, was simulated. Grid dependence studies were carried out as well as sensitivity studies to the fuel inlet condition and the inclusion of gas phase turbulence. Simulations could not accurately reproduce the experimental trend for the case when highly reactive nickel oxide was used as the oxygen carrier material, but in general satisfactory quantitative agreement was observed. The failure to correctly capture the experimental trend was primarily attributed to the fine length-scales at the feed gas inlets not being adequately resolved even at the finest grid investigated. The trend quickly worsened when coarser grids were used, indicating that the generality of the model is lost when grid dependence effects are present. A number of possible dimensional effects were also discussed. Subsequently, the model was used to successfully capture another experimental trend obtained with a much less reactive ilmenite oxygen carrier material. The model captured this trend correctly because the reaction was now limited by the reaction rate and not by species transfer to the large scale gas-emulsion interfaces. Results were therefore not as sensitive to the correct hydrodynamic modelling of the interface, especially near the gas inlets, and the model retained its generality over a wide range of operating conditions.     

The electric quadrupole contribution to the circular birefringenceof nonmagnetic anisotropic chiral media: a circular waveguide experiment

Constitutive relations which include electric quadrupole terms, in addition to electric and magnetic dipole terms, are used to describe the “optical activity”, in particular the circular birefringence, of an anisotropic chiral medium which is nonmagnetic. The resulting permittivity and chirality tensors are then used to predict the rotation of the polarization plane of a linearly polarized wave propagating in a circular waveguide filled with the medium. The numerical predictions were tested by measurements between 2.4 and 4 GHz on a 2 m long artificial crystal in a circular waveguide and it was found that the rotation of the polarization was within 13% of the predicted value-good agreement after considering the possible sources of error. It is thus established that the effect of electric quadrupoles must be included when modeling the optical activity of anisotropic chiral media in the long wavelength regime. The anisotropic chiral media which are dealt with here can be classified according to the crystallographic point groups to which they belong, and they may therefore also be considered to be artificial crystals     

Inductive Learning with a Computational Network

This paper introduces a computational network which combines heterogeneous rule-extraction algorithms for intelligent data analysis. Combining induction programs may alleviate the possible negative effects of data set representation and individual program's influences, such as inductive bias. The application of the computational network to a diabetes data set shows that, when combining the various programs, an increase in rule set accuracy and comprehensibility are obtained.     

Ridged cavity backed slot antenna with dielectric loading

A reduced size cavity backed slot antenna, consisting of a transverse slot in the flat broadwall of a deep single ridge waveguide cavity is described. Partial dielectric loading achieves significant further reduction in electrical size. Moderate dielectric loss increases bandwidth (and significantly reduces antenna gain).<>     

Grating lobes caused by parallel-plate polariser

An unexpected high-level sidelobe was encountered when a parallel-plate polariser was fitted to a slotted waveguide array. The phenomenon is explained using grating lobe theory and linear near-field measurements. A technique to suppress the grating lobe is proposed.     

Radio frequency coupling between an antenna and two unshieldedparallel wires above a metal sheet-measurement precautions

An unshielded 1 m transmission line, made of two parallel wires suspended 0.1 m above a plane metal sheet, is illuminated in the VHF and UHF bands by a log-periodic dipole array (LPDA). A network analyzer is used to measure the voltage induced at one end of the line. The measured signal is compared to the predictions of a moment method numerical analysis, using the NEC code. The measured and predicted coupling are in reasonable agreement only once two measurement precautions are taken. First, the illuminating antenna has to be well-balanced to suppress common mode radiation from the coaxial cable connecting the transmitter to the antenna. Second, an output balun must be inserted between the unshielded transmission line and the coaxial cable to the network analyzer. This is needed to prevent common mode signals on the coaxial cable from contaminating the measurements. Besides these practical steps, it is also necessary to use physical insight and high frequency circuit theory to develop a good equivalent circuit of the output balun for use in the computational model     

RF measurement of wire complex permeability

The complex permeability of thin round wires is measured with a coaxial system at half-wavelength resonance, using surface impedance and low-loss transmission line concepts. A steel wire is measured over the band 300 MHz-3 GHz. The results compare well to measurements made early in the last century.