Solid friction is considered by some to be a fundamental property of two contacting materials, while others consider it to be a property of the larger tribosystem in which the materials are contained. A set of sliding friction experiments were designed to investigate the hypothesis that the unlubricated sliding friction between two materials is indeed a tribosystems-related property and that the relative influence of the materials properties or those of the machine on friction varies from one situation to another. Three tribometers were used: a friction microprobe (FMP), a typical laboratory-scale reciprocating pin-on-flat device, and a heavy-duty commercial wear tester. The slider material was stainless steel (AISI 440C) and the flat specimen material was an ordered alloy of Ni{sub 3}Al (IC-50). Sphere-on-flat geometry was used at ambient conditions and at normal forces ranging from 0.01 N to 100 N and average sliding velocities of 0.01 to 100.0 mm/s. The nominal, steady-state sliding friction coefficient tended to decrease with increases in normal force for each of the three tribometers, and the steady state value of sliding friction tended to increase as the mass of the machine increased. The variation of the friction force during sliding was also a characteristic of the …

Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals have been used as harmonic converters on the Nova laser at LLNL for over six years. All crystals were coated with a single layer, quarterwave AR coating of porous silica with a refractive index of 1.22. This was prepared by a sol-gel process and was applied from a colloidal suspension by spin coating at room temperature. A few crystals were also coated with a methyl silicone coating prior to the application of the AR coating for environmental protection. The initial optical performance of all crystals was very good but there has been some deterioration over the years because of environmental and laser damage degradation. The deterioration in the silicone samples was, however, much less than the others. We are now in the process of replacing all ten KDP arrays with new crystals and will apply the silicone undercoat to all samples. Recently we have been evaluating a new perfluorinated organic polymer coating which has a refractive index of 1.29. This material is soluble in fluorinated solvents and can be applied by dip coating from solution at room temperature. We hope that this can provide environmental protection when applied to KDP and also act as an …

High speed data transmission using fiber optics for the Superconducting Super Collider solenoidal detector has been studied. The solenoidal detector system will consist of nine subsystems involving more than a total 10{sup 7} channels of readout electronics. Consequently, a new high performance data acquisition system, incorporating high-speed optical fiber networks, will be required to process this large quantity of data. 15 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

A study group has been formed under the auspices of ANS-8 to examine the need for a standard on nuclear criticality accident emergency planning and response. This standard would be ANS-8.23. ANSI/ANS-8.19-1984, Administrative Practices for Nuclear Criticality Safety, provides some guidance on the subject in Section 10 titled -- Planned Response to Nuclear Criticality Accidents. However, the study group has formed a consensus that Section 10 is inadequate in that technical guidance in addition to administrative guidance is needed. The group believes that a new standard which specifically addresses emergency planning and response to a perceived criticality accident is needed. Plans for underway to request the study group be designated a writing group to create a draft of such a new standard. The proposed standard will divide responsibility between management and technical staff. Generally, management will be charged with providing the necessary elements of emergency planning such as a criticality detection and alarm system, training, safe evacuation routes and assembly areas, a system for timely accountability of personnel, and an effective emergency response organization. The technical staff, on the other hand, will be made responsible for establishing specific items such as safe and clearly posted evacuation evacuation routes and dose …