# Royal Military College of Canada

Recent publications
The capabilities of the Thermodynamic of Advanced Fuels – International Database (TAF-ID) for reproducing the chemical behaviour of irradiated nuclear fuel in severe accident conditions were studied, by comparing calculation results to experimental observations. SIMFUELs samples containing UO2 + 11 elements (Ba, Ce, La, Mo, Nd, Pd, Rh, Ru, Sr, Y and Zr, in concentration representative of a 76 GWd•tU⁻¹ Burn-up) were submitted to 1327°C in oxidizing conditions, and to 1800, 2000, and 2100°C under reducing ones. Samples were characterized by Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA), High-Resolution XRD, and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS). Thermodynamic calculations reproduced accurately the solubility of fission products in the UO2 matrix, and the type and composition of minor oxide and most metallic phases. Calculations also explain metallic phases microstructure as a result of the progressive solidification of liquids. However, some features such as the U-Pd-Rh association could not be reproduced, due to the lack of a thermodynamic model for this ternary system.
The Sahel is regularly conceived as a space where the interaction between climate and conflict can be observed. With a high-dependence on rain-fed agriculture and livestock, climate variability leaves pastoralists and smallholders particularly vulnerable. Moreover, the region remains fragile, embodied by factors such as weak capacity of the state, inter-group inequality and a history of violent conflict; as well as a decade of regional French-led military operations. As such, it is an important case study for the question of whose security is threatened by global warming. Discussions about climate security in the Sahel are not happening in a vacuum, but during a crisis-ridden moment. This article seeks to reframe the debate by grasping all these things at once: wrestling with the historical legacies of environmental interventionism, the politics of pragmatic crisis management, and the uncertainties of a climate-change future yet to be born. It develops an argument about the need to engage with a politics of the future via the politics of knowledge production.
We present the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) Pilot Phase I H i kinematic models. This first data release consists of H i observations of three fields in the direction of the Hydra and Norma clusters, and the NGC 4636 galaxy group. In this paper, we describe how we generate and publicly release flat-disk tilted-ring kinematic models for 109/592 unique H i detections in these fields. The modelling method adopted here—which we call the WALLABY Kinematic Analysis Proto-Pipeline (WKAPP) and for which the corresponding scripts are also publicly available—consists of combining results from the homogeneous application of the FAT and 3DBarolo algorithms to the subset of 209 detections with sufficient resolution and $S/N$ in order to generate optimised model parameters and uncertainties. The 109 models presented here tend to be gas rich detections resolved by at least 3–4 synthesised beams across their major axes, but there is no obvious environmental bias in the modelling. The data release described here is the first step towards the derivation of similar products for thousands of spatially resolved WALLABY detections via a dedicated kinematic pipeline. Such a large publicly available and homogeneously analysed dataset will be a powerful legacy product that that will enable a wide range of scientific studies.
We present WALLABY pilot data release 1, the first public release of H i pilot survey data from the Wide-field ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Phase 1 of the WALLABY pilot survey targeted three $60\,\mathrm{deg}^{2}$ regions on the sky in the direction of the Hydra and Norma galaxy clusters and the NGC 4636 galaxy group, covering the redshift range of $z \lesssim 0.08$ . The source catalogue, images and spectra of nearly 600 extragalactic H i detections and kinematic models for 109 spatially resolved galaxies are available. As the pilot survey targeted regions containing nearby group and cluster environments, the median redshift of the sample of $z \approx 0.014$ is relatively low compared to the full WALLABY survey. The median galaxy H i mass is $2.3 \times 10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{{\odot}}$ . The target noise level of $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy}$ per 30 ′′ beam and $18.5\,\mathrm{kHz}$ channel translates into a $5 \sigma$ H i mass sensitivity for point sources of about $5.2 \times 10^{8} \, (D_{\rm L} / \mathrm{100\,Mpc})^{2} \, {\rm M}_{{\odot}}$ across 50 spectral channels ( ${\approx} 200\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$ ) and a $5 \sigma$ H i column density sensitivity of about $8.6 \times 10^{19} \, (1 + z)^{4}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ across 5 channels ( ${\approx} 20\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$ ) for emission filling the 30 ′′ beam. As expected for a pilot survey, several technical issues and artefacts are still affecting the data quality. Most notably, there are systematic flux errors of up to several 10% caused by uncertainties about the exact size and shape of each of the primary beams as well as the presence of sidelobes due to the finite deconvolution threshold. In addition, artefacts such as residual continuum emission and bandpass ripples have affected some of the data. The pilot survey has been highly successful in uncovering such technical problems, most of which are expected to be addressed and rectified before the start of the full WALLABY survey.
The WALLABY pilot survey has been conducted using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP). The integrated 21-cm HI line spectra are formed in a very different manner compared to usual single-dish spectra Tully-Fisher measurements. It is thus extremely important to ensure that slight differences (e.g. biases due to missing flux) are quantified and understood in order to maximise the use of the large amount of data becoming available soon. This article is based on four fields for which the data are scientifically interesting by themselves. The pilot data discussed here consist of 614 galaxy spectra at a rest wavelength of 21cm. Of these spectra, 472 are of high enough quality to be used to potentially derive distances using the Tully-Fisher relation. We further restrict the sample to the 251 galaxies whose inclination is sufficiently close to edge-on. For these, we derive Tully-Fisher distances using the deprojected WALLABY velocity widths combined with infrared (WISE W1) magnitudes. The resulting Tully-Fisher distances for the Eridanus, Hydra, Norma and NGC 4636 clusters are 21.5, 53.5, 69.4 and 23.0 Mpc respectively, with uncertainties of 5–10%, which are better or equivalent to the ones obtained in studies using data obtained with giant single dish telescopes. The pilot survey data show the benefits of WALLABY over previous giant single-dish telescope surveys. WALLABY is expected to detect around half a million galaxies with a mean redshift of z = 0.05(200Mpc). This study suggests that about 200,000 Tully-Fisher distances might result from the survey.
A nuclear forensics investigation involving a uranium ore concentrate relies on accurate and precise analysis of impurities. Analytical data defensibility requires the use of reference materials as part of quality control. This study presents a compilation of trace element concentration results of the CUP-2 Uranium Ore Concentrate Standard measured by 11 different laboratories. The laboratories employed various dissolution methods, analytical preparation methods, and instrumental platforms. The data presented here contain concentrations of 66 impurities with up to 138 individual data points for each impurity. Consensus values have been assigned to each impurity following a statistical analysis of the data set.
Leadership research has a long and impressive history of identifying how followers are affected by their leaders. The vast majority of this research has addressed one leadership “style” at a time, reinforcing the idea that leaders are consistent in their behaviors despite emerging evidence to the contrary. Drawing on uncertainty management theory, the ambivalence literature, and empirical evidence, we propose that followers’ perceptions of inconsistent leadership results in ambivalence towards leaders, which in turn affects followers’ workplace attitudes and well-being. Across two studies using different methodologies (randomized experimental study, survey), we find support for a conditional indirect effect in which leaders’ inconsistent behaviors predict an array of follower outcomes through the mediating effect of followers’ subjective ambivalence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models are known to be inaccurate in complex flows, for instance, laminar-turbulent transition, and RANS uncertainty quantification (UQ) is essential to estimate the uncertainty in their predictions. In this study, a recent physics-based UQ framework that introduces eigenvalue, eigenvector, and turbulence kinetic energy perturbations to the modeled Reynolds stress tensor has been used to estimate the uncertainty in the flow field. We introduce a regression-based marker function that focuses on the turbulence kinetic energy perturbation for the simulation of laminar-turbulent transitional flows over an Selig–Donovan 7003 airfoil. We observed a monotonic behavior of the magnitude of the predicted uncertainty bounds varying with the turbulence kinetic energy perturbation. Importantly, the predicted uncertainty bounds show a synergy behavior that dramatically increases the size of uncertainty bounds and can successfully encompass the reference data when the eigenvalue perturbations are augmented with the marker function.
Coherent radio emission via electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) from hot magnetic stars was discovered more than two decades ago, but the physical conditions that make the generation of ECME favourable remain uncertain. Only recently was an empirical relation, connecting ECME luminosity with the stellar magnetic field and temperature, proposed to explain what makes a hot magnetic star capable of producing ECME. This relation was, however, obtained with just fourteen stars. Therefore, it is important to examine whether this relation is robust. With the aim of testing the robustness, we conducted radio observations of five hot magnetic stars. This led to the discovery of three more stars producing ECME. We find that the proposed scaling relation remains valid after the addition of the newly discovered stars. However we discovered that the magnetic field and effective temperature correlate for Teff ≲ 16 kK (likely an artefact of the small sample size), rendering the proposed connection between ECME luminosity and Teff unreliable. By examining the empirical relation in light of the scaling law for incoherent radio emission, we arrive at the conclusion that both types of emission are powered by the same magnetospheric phenomenon. Like the incoherent emission, coherent radio emission is indifferent to Teff for late-B and A-type stars, but Teff appears to become important for early-B type stars, possibly due to higher absorption, or, higher plasma density at the emission sites suppressing the production of the emission.
Inspired by the natural mobbing behavior of birds, this work presents a novel, quasi-distributed swarming strategy called the Dynamic Lemniscatic Arch. It resolves the problem of producing globally-stable, evenly-spaced lemniscate (or, figure-eight) trajectories while relying on local interactions only. Such trajectories are advantageous in applications where energy consumption and mechanical strain must be minimized. Previous work in lemniscate curves has typically relied on predetermined trajectories, rather than on the emergent structure of the swarm. Furthermore, we enrich the traditional 2-dimensional lemniscate plane curve structure by forming an arch in the third dimension. This arch provides more consistent coverage in surveillance type tasks and, with minor variations in parameters, can be used to produce mobbing behavior. The technique relies on time-varying quaternion rotations linked to the positions of dynamically induced virtual agents. We provide a mathematical proof of stability, which demonstrates the swarm converges to the desired geometry. Simulations show that the strategy performs well with multiple agents and in numerous different configurations.
The transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil and groundwater is important for site investigation, risk characterization, and remediation planning. The adsorption of PFAS at air-water interfaces has been shown to significantly contribute to PFAS retention, with subsequent effects on concentrations and the time scales of transport. In this study, column experiments were conducted to investigate the transport of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS) individually and in binary mixtures in the presence of a trapped gas phase, using clean sands to isolate adsorption to air-water interfaces. Consistent with previous studies, the transport of PFOS, PFOA, and 6:2 FTS was retarded by adsorption at the air-water interface, with greater retention of PFOS due to its higher affinity for the air-water interface. Chromatographic separation occurred in the experiments using binary mixtures of PFOS and PFOA, with greater retention at lower influent concentrations. The mixture experiments also showed enhanced breakthrough of PFOA in the presence of PFOS, where effluent concentrations of PFOA were temporarily greater than the influent concentration prior to the breakthrough of PFOS. This enhanced breakthrough was attributed to competition between PFOS and PFOA for adsorption to the air-water interface.
The classical globular clusters found in all galaxy types have half-light radii of rh ∼ 2–4 pc, which have been tied to formation in the dense cores of giant molecular clouds. Some old star clusters have larger sizes, and it is unclear if these represent a fundamentally different mode of low-density star cluster formation. We report the discovery of a rare, young ‘faint fuzzy’ star cluster, NGC 247-SC1, on the outskirts of the low-mass spiral galaxy NGC 247 in the nearby Sculptor group, and measure its radial velocity using Keck spectroscopy. We use Hubble Space Telescope imaging to measure the cluster half-light radius of rh ≃ 12 pc and a luminosity of LV ≃ 4 × 105L⊙. We produce a colour–magnitude diagram of cluster stars and compare to theoretical isochrones, finding an age of ≃300 Myr, a metallicity of [Z/H] ∼ −0.6 and an inferred mass of M⋆ ≃ 9 × 104M⊙. The narrow width of blue-loop star magnitudes implies an age spread of ≲ 50 Myr, while no old red-giant branch stars are found, so SC1 is consistent with hosting a single stellar population, modulo several unexplained bright ‘red straggler’ stars. SC1 appears to be surrounded by tidal debris, at the end of a ∼ 2 kpc long stellar filament that also hosts two low-mass, low-density clusters of a similar age. We explore a link between the formation of these unusual clusters and an external perturbation of their host galaxy, illuminating a possible channel by which some clusters are born with large sizes.
Bridges deteriorate over time, which requires the continuous monitoring of their condition. There are many digital technologies for inspecting and monitoring bridges in real-time. In this context, computer vision has extensively studied cracks to automate their identification in concrete surfaces, overcoming the conventional manual methods that rely on human judgment. The general framework of vision-based techniques consists of feature extraction using different filters and descriptors and classifier training to perform the classification task. However, training can be time-consuming and computationally expensive, depending on the dimension of the features. To address this limitation, dimensionality reduction techniques are applied to extracted features, and a new feature subspace is generated. This work used histograms of oriented gradients (HOGs) and uniform local binary patterns (ULBPs) to extract features from a dataset containing over 3000 uncracked and cracked images covering different patterns of cracks and concrete surface representations. Nonlinear dimensionality reduction was performed using kernel principal component analysis (KPCA), and three machine learning classifiers were implemented to conduct the classification. The experimental results show that the classification scheme based on the support-vector machine (SVM) model and feature-level fusion of the HOG and ULBP features after KPCA application provided the best results as an accuracy of 99.26% was achieved by the proposed classification framework.
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-4271.vid Electrospray thrusters employing multiplexed emission from arrays of linear porous wedge emitters have recently gained prevalence in the nanosatellite propulsion community. While these devices naturally offer high-performance thrust profiles, their capabilities may be enhanced further via the implementation of thrust vector control, which is conducive for optimized nanosatellite attitude and trajectory control. A Vectored Electrospray Thruster (VET) that provides multi-axis attitude actuation via thrust vector control is currently being investigated at the Royal Military College of Canada Advanced Propulsion and Plasma Exploration Laboratory (RAPPEL). The VET employs porous wedge emitters and uses pulse-width modulation to generate stepped emission differentials across the propulsion plane, producing precise linear impulse and torque bits. The design and modeling of a two-emitter VET prototype that enables single-axis attitude actuation is presented and discussed.
The paper examines the quantitative influence of uncertainty in the estimate of geosynthetic reinforcement stiffness on numerical outcomes using analytical solutions for a) the maximum outward facing deformation in mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, b) maximum reinforcement tensile loads and strain in MSE walls under operational conditions, and c) the mobilized reinforcement stiffness in a geosynthetic layer used to reinforce a fill over a void. The stiffness of the reinforcement is modelled using an isochronous two-parameter hyperbolic load-strain model. A linear relationship between isochronous stiffness and the ultimate tensile strength of the reinforcement is used to estimate reinforcement stiffness when product-specific creep data are not available at time of design. Solution outcomes are presented deterministically and probabilistically. The quantitative link between nominal factor of safety used in deterministic working stress design practice and reliability index is provided. The latter is preferred in modern performance-based design to quantify margins of safety within a probabilistic framework. Finally, the paper highlights the practical benefit of using product-specific isochronous secant stiffness data when available, rather than estimates of isochronous stiffness values based on reinforcement type or pooled data.
We show that the inequality χ(G×H)<min{χf(G),χ(H)}\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}\begin{aligned} \chi (G\times H) < \min \{ \chi _f(G), \chi (H)\} \end{aligned}\end{document}can happen when χ(G×H)=43\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\chi (G\times H) = 43$$\end{document}, improving on the lowest previously known value χ(G×H)=125\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\chi (G\times H) = 125$$\end{document}.
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